An Ideal Village:The Rogue Uzumaki
by TNT T-LAS
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki always held Konoha in high regard, higher than his life, but it seems Konoha had fallen too much for him to pick up. Follow his journey through the Elemental Nations as a Rogue Shinobi and as he makes new comrades, with only one dream in mind; an Ideal Village. Smart and Gradually strong Naruto. Genfic.
1. Chapter 1 : An ally

**CHAPTER – 1**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto.

 **AN:** Hey there! I suddenly got this new idea of a fanfic out of nowhere so I decided to write it down before I forget it. Please note that Naruto in this fic is rather smart than from the canon one. Also, he will get strong gradually and steadily. And no, he will not be awakening a Kekkei Genkai or the Rinnegan in the middle of a mob attack. This story is a little inspired by 'One Piece' but it's way far from being a cross-over. If you haven't seen 'One Piece', it doesn't matter in terms of this story.

Don't worry, I WILL update 'Life of Namikaze's Legacy'. It is going under a MAJOR editing. For now, enjoy the first chapter!

Naruto was feeling awful. His whole body was in pain. He had a few ribs that felt broken. He had enormous amount of bruises and cuts on his body and it felt like he was about to drop into unconsciousness soon, but that was not the worst part. No. Even after his physical abuse, he didn't felt even a bit of pain physically. Where he felt pain was emotionally.

In front of him on the bridge was the body of one of the most courageous and respectful fighters he has known. The world knew him as 'Demon of the Bloody Mist', one of the 'Seven Legendary Swordsmen of the Mist'. Naruto knew him as Zabuza Momochi; the one who fought for pride, pride of his and his apprentice's. The one who refused to surrender his pride and held his head high, even on the verge of death.

Naruto looked at his side and saw another familiar person. His sensei; Kakashi Hatake, otherwise known as 'Copy-Nin Kakashi'. The man who has copied over a thousand jutsus. Naruto felt proud of his sensei. He fought hard for the sake of the village and for the sake of his team, his students. Kakashi was already unconscious after his fight with Zabuza, having used too much chakra.

Sasuke was out too, having been stabbed by various senbons in his vital points, enough to knock him out for at least a few hours. He remembered who did this to him. He directed his sight towards one end of the bridge. On there were lying the bodies of dozens of men, may they be simple bandits or wannabe samurais, all of them were lying there dead, having met their fate by a kid smaller than half their age. Men were continuously added to the pile of dead bodies. Naruto looked at the person responsible.

Haku was fighting continuously to the crowd. The way he did it, it seemed he wasn't afraid of them, wasn't afraid of anything, wasn't afraid of…dying. No, it almost felt like he wanted to die fighting those scoundrels, but not until he killed every last one of them. Emotionally, he was in a turmoil. His usual calm face now played various emotions; anger, regret, pain and…satisfaction. Physically, he was in a very bad shape. His nose and left arm were both broken. His right hand's ligament was screwed and he had a few deep cuts on his body. A dagger was sticking out of his right shoulder, but still, he stood strong; much like Zabuza.

Haku was continuously weaving through the crowd only with the help of his legs. He continuously front-kicking, side-kicking and even head-butting the enemies. His speed was too great to be matched by the wannabe fighters, but their sheer number proved to be a problem for Haku. Although his single kick was strong enough to knock out his opponents, there were simply too many of them. They were surrounding him, slowly gaining the upper hand.

Not able to tolerate it anymore, Naruto decided to do something. In Zabuza's honour, he would not let his partner fall. Naruto looked at Sakura, the only standing member of Team 7 beside him. She was in the best condition of them all, only having received a few wounds from Haku's senbons. She looked back at Naruto, thinking along the same lines. Their eyes met and they came to an agreement. They both nodded at each other and sped towards their former enemy.

Naruto formed a cross-shaped hand sign, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" and about a dozen clones answered the call. Sakura took out a kunai and got ready for the upcoming fight. They both, followed by the clones attacked the crowd menacingly; slicing, stabbing, kicking and punching the enemies ruthlessly. They were determined to reach Haku in time, so that they can back him up. They will help him reach his goal, a fat midget standing at the end of the crowd, pissing his pants, afraid for his life.

The crowd was soon taken care of with Naruto and Sakura helping Haku. All that was left was a single man, who was already begging for his life.

"P-Please d-don't kill me! I will give ALL my wealth! I will be your slave for the rest of my life b-but please, don't kill me!" Gatou screamed for mercy.

Haku launched all the Killer Intent he could muster towards the man, knocking him unconscious. He walked towards him and lifted his foot for a stomp. Then, with all the power he could muster and with a battle cry, Haku kicked the man's neck, crushing his windpipe and breaking his neck-bone. It killed him instantly.

Haku turned towards Naruto. He had a thankful look on his face. His lips tried to twirl in a smile but was unable to. His eyes rolled back and Haku stumbled, trying to find his footing. His eyes finally closed but his ears managed to pick up one last word before he fell into unconsciousness

"HAKU!"

Naruto desperately ran towards Haku. He got just in time and caught him from hitting the ground. He was about to call for Sakura when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "We gotta take him to Tazuna-san's home…quickly" Naruto nodded at her words.

It was the same moment when almost the whole village showed up with a battle cry. They were all armed with all the household weapons they could muster; mainly pitchforks and shovel. A crossbow was a surprising exception, armed by Inari. Naruto was glad to see the boy, backed up by the villagers. They all came to fight Gatou and his army, to finally free their country from his evil reign. But they were a little too late. Naruto and his team gave them the courage to stand up to their own problems.

Seeing them all relieved him. The blonde thought, _'Heh…at least I can rest now…'_ He closed his eyes for a split-second. All the physical and mental exaggeration finally took a toll on him and he succumbed into unconsciousness, but before that, he managed to whisper something to his teammate "Help him…"

 **Next Day (Afternoon):-**

When Naruto woke up, he was met by a splitting head-ache "Shit…it hurts" he mumbled. He tried to get up but someone caught his shoulders and guided him to down again. "Stay down…you are in no condition to get up right now" Sakura scolded him. Naruto absent-mindedly gave her a nod.

He abruptly suddenly stood up again, "Where's sensei? Where's Haku? What about Sasuke?"

"Jeez…calm down already. I told you to stay down, didn't I?" she frowned

"Heh…sorry Sakura" he said.

"Sensei's awake, but he's bedridden. Haku is still out. And Sasuke is right there" She pointed to his left. The blonde turned his head to find Sasuke lying there, just like him. The Uchiha acknowledged him by raising a hand.

"How long was I out for?" Naruto asked.

"A day" she replied.

"What did I miss?" he continued the questioning.

"We gave Zabuza a funeral. We buried him near the bridge…Sensei decided not to collect the bounty on him, out of honour." Naruto nodded. "…but he confiscated his blade; 'The Throat Cleaver'. He said that since we all fought him his last fight, one of us can keep the blade. He said it's tradition for a swordsman, to pass on his blade to someone who deserves it more after dying."

"But sensei did it. He should keep the blade." Naruto argued.

"He said that it's not his style to fight with blades…it's not mine either. I probably can't lift it if I tried. It's up to you both."

"Then, Sasuke can-"

"You can keep the blade, I don't want it" interrupted Sasuke.

Naruto nodded.

Sakura passed both of them a bowl each "Here, Tsunami-san made soup for both of you" They both nodded and slowly sat up.

 **:::::**

 **Three days later (Evening):-**

Team 7, with Haku, were standing in front of Zabuza's grave with silence. They all came here to pay their respects before leaving tomorrow. Kakashi walked up and pulled out the sword, which was embedded beside the grave. He took out a scroll and expertly sealed the sword in it. He rolled it back and tossed it to Naruto, who caught it without much effort.

"I see you have made up your mind to join Konoha Ninja Ranks Haku" asked Kakashi "Yes. I don't have anywhere to go. I have been trained as a weapon my whole life. I have decided to follow Naruto-sama anywhere he goes" Team 7 sweat-dropped at Naruto's title.

"Heh, you can drop the 'sama' thing Haku, it's really awkward you know…" Naruto said embarrassingly. Given a respectful title when you are not given even a small nod by the civilians was somewhat awkward.

"I am sorry Naruto-sama, but I can't follow that wish of yours." Haku bowed towards him.

What followed was another sweat-drop.

"Anyways, you guys start packing. We are leaving as soon as the Sun rises" Kakashi instructed. They all nodded and began their walk towards Tazuna's home.

 **:::::**

 **Three days later (Afternoon):-**

"Hmm…Kakashi, your report is rather…interesting. What did you say your name was young lad?" Sarutobi asked. "It's Haku, Hokage-sama" he bowed politely.

Sarutobi took a puff from his pipe, "Haku, I can't simply let anyone join Konoha Ninja Ranks; I hope you understand." "Of course, Hokage-sama" Haku said.

"But in your case, the whole Team 7 recommended you…I guess an exception could be made…but you will have to give some tests to make sure that you are not a spy and won't defect Konoha…" "Yes Hokage-sama, it's not a problem"

"Well then, except Kakashi, you all are dismissed." The genins and Haku walked out of the office.

"Kakashi" Sarutobi's voice picked a dangerous tone.

"Yes Hokage-sama?"

"Do you trust the boy? Answer me truly"

"Yes Hokage-sama. I don't doubt the boy in any way"

"I see…what rank will you recommend for him?"

"He easily deserves a Chunin" he was confident.

"Alright, dismissed" Kakashi Body Flickered out of the room.

"ANBU!" An Eagle-masked ANBU appeared in front of his leader.

"Get me Inoichi" The official nodded and vanished in thin air.

 **:::::**

 **Next Day:-**

Haku was walking in a long corridor of dull cement walls, lighted by bare bulbs hanging by the ceiling. _'This really looks like interrogation department. Even the building is designed to invoke fear...too bad it doesn't work on me'_ He thought. The corridor led to a heavy metal door. Haku knocked the door politely,

"Come in" He walked into the room.

The room was pitch black, with a metal chair and a glowing light bulb above it, hanging off the ceiling by a long wire. "Please sit down" came the voice of a man from the corner of the room. Haku complied and took the seat.

"My orders are to check you mentally. I will go through your whole mind and view your every memory to ensure that you won't betray Konoha. Do you have any problems?" The man spoke with authority.

"No" Haku replied in a monotone.

"Very well then" The man walked up to him and put his right hand on Haku's forehead,

"Let's start"

 **:::::**

"What did you decide Sakura?"

"Well sensei…"

"Sakura!" Sakura came running towards her sensei "Yes sensei" "It's time for you to decide" She raised an eyebrow, "Decide?"

"Both Naruto and Sasuke, they are both powerhouses. They are good in taijutsu and ninjutsu and they have massive stamina and chakra, especially Naruto. While you…you lack everything they have but, you have exceptional chakra control and we can work on your reserves and taijutsu."

"And?"

"So, you have to decide a field of speciality for yourself. Your taijutsu and ninjutsu arsenal ruled out the possibility of you being an all-rounder."

"I guess you are right…What do you suggest?"

"You can go for either Genjutsu or Medical Ninjutsu. Do your research on those, decide what you want to learn and tell me tomorrow. Alright? You're dismissed for today" "Yeah, okay."

"The thing is…I like both of them. Is there a way I can learn both?" she asked hopefully.

Kakashi sighed "I figured you would say something like that. I suck in both Medical Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. I can teach you how to break one, but nothing more than that."

"How did I get a sensei like-"

"Hey! I wasn't finished."

Kakashi cleared his throat, "As I was saying, I already arranged your training sessions with Kurenai and you can learn the basics of Medical Ninjutsu from the Medical Ninjas at the Hospital. You will have to request them of course"

"Really! Thank you sensei you are the best!" Kakashi sweat-dropped.

"You will also have to report to me for Team training sessions. Can you manage all this Sakura?" "I will try my best!" she beamed. "Now that's the spirit. Why don't you join the guys? They just started running a hundred laps around Konoha." She sweated, but managed to give a slight nod and set out to find her team.

 **:::::**

*Knock Knock* "Come in" Inoichi entered the office with a file.

"Hokage-sama, here are Haku's details." He handed Sarutobi the file. "Inoichi, done already? Fast as usual I see." Hiruzen started going through the reports. "Hokage-sama, the kid is perfectly normal and his loyalty is unquestionable. I recommend him to be included in Konoha's Ninja Ranks."

"Loyalty towards the village?" Sarutobi asked a little surprised. "Ehh…No Hokage-sama, not towards the village." Sarutobi raised an eyebrow but motioned for him to continue.

"Loyalty towards…Naruto" Inoichi broke the ice.

"NARUTO!?" the reaction was priceless.

"Yes indeed. He would easily give up his life for him" he said.

"…I see. It should not be a problem then. You are dismissed" The Hokage managed to compose himself.

"Yes sir" and he vanished.

 **:::::**

*Knock Knock* "Come in" Haku bowed to the Hokage.

"Ah Haku, I was just thinking about summoning you. I got your reports and it turns out that you are perfectly well for becoming a Konoha Ninja." Sarutobi said smiling. He opened his drawer and took out a Konoha forehead protector and a flak jacket, "Here, you are now officially a Konoha Chunin from now on. Congratulations."

Haku took them politely and once again bowed. "Thank you Hokage-sama" Hiruzen smiled warmly and handed him a single key. "What's this Hokage-sama?" Haku asked. "You are a Konoha Ninja now, and all Konoha Ninjas have their own apartments. This one is yours. I will have someone show you where it is" "Yes sir."

"ANBU!" An ANBU appeared and bowed. "Will you take Haku here to Chunin Apartments 17-E?" "Of course sir" He turned towards Haku, "Please follow me" He nodded and left the office after his escort.

 **:::::**

"So, where is my apartment?" "The Chunin Apartments are just at the back of Konoha Hospital; a twenty-minutes-walk from the Hokage-tower" "That's convenient" "Yeah, all the Ninja Apartments, except the ANBU Headquarters are near the centre of the village" "I see, what about ANBU Headquarters?" Haku asked curiosly. He was now part of a hidden village. He had to gather as much knowledge as possible.

"There are a few scattered and hidden across the village and its boundary." The ANBU replied. He didn't mind giving his Kouhai a few tit-bits about the village.

"Can you show me where the Genins live?" "Oh, Genins don't have their own apartments, they are still Ninja Trainee. Only Chunin ranked and above have their own houses." "Well, in that case, can you show me where Naruto Uzumaki lives?" "Yeah sure"

"You sure talk a lot for an ANBU" "Heh, people say that. Look, here's your apartment. Naruto Uzumaki lives just down the lane" "Thanks. I am Haku by the way" Haku offered his hand "My alias is Yamato; ANBU can't give their real names" Yamato shook Haku's hand. "I understand" Haku said. "Great, welcome to Konoha" "Nice to meet you" "Gotta go, duty calls" Yamato vanished in a swirl of leaves _'ANBUs sure are strange…'_

 **:::::**

 **Later that day (Evening):-**

"Are you sure about this Haku?" Naruto asked. "Yes, I think I can do it?" Haku answered. "Don't worry about it, I will be here to help you if anything goes wrong" "Thank you Naruto-sama" They both nodded at each other.

"Oh come on! How spicy can a super spicy Miso Ramen be?" said Sakura. "Now there's your fault. Don't. Ever. Underestimate. Super Spicy Miso Ramen" lectured the Blonde. "Only twerps like you can't eat a little spice" Sasuke mumbled.

"Is that right, heh Sasuke? Why don't you try it yourself?" Naruto's look said 'do-it-if-you-dare'. Sasuke looked at the chef "Hit me with one" Teuchi laughed. "You kids sure are boosted up. Who's your friend Naruto? Won't you introduce him?" he asked.

"Oh right, I forgot. Old man Teuchi, he is Haku from Kirigakure. He is now a Konoha-nin. Haku, he is Old man Teuchi; owner of Ichiraku Ramen and the best Ramen cook in the world!" Teuchi chuckled.

"Nice to meet you Teuchi-san" "You too lad. Hope you enjoy my Ramen" Haku bowed.

"Here are your orders, Enjoy!" They all gulped prepared themselves for what came next.

 **:::::**

"I suppose you know the purpose of this meeting?" the Hokage asked. Several figures present in the room nodded.

"Alright then, as you all know, you are here for the nomination and discussion of this time's Bi-Annual Chunin Exams held by Konoha. I request the Team Leaders who think that their teams are capable to nominate them for the Chunin Exams" One of them stepped forward, "I, Asuma Sarutobi nominate Team 10 for the Chunin Exams"

Two more stepped forward, "I, Kurenai Yuuhi nominate Team 9 for the Chunin Exams" "I, Kakashi Hatake nominate Team 7 for the Chunin Exams"

' _All the rookies! This year is going to be quite…exceptional'_ Hiruzen thought. Though he was shocked, Sarutobi didn't even flinch the slightest. He was the Hokage after all.

"I see, are there any other teams?"

A few Jounins raised their hands and one-by-one nominated their teams while the Hokage's secretary scribbled down the names and team numbers.

"That's it, you can collect the forms from my secretary. Dismissed"

 **:::::**

"So Haku, you got any missions lately?" Naruto asked.

"Just a few C-ranks, nothing of importance Naruto-sama" he replied.

"Drop the 'sama' already would you?" "I am sorry but I can't do that"

"Sheesh" Naruto suddenly stopped, "Haku…can you hear that?" "Yes, a child screaming"

"Let's go" Haku nodded and followed Naruto to the rooftops.

 **:::::**

When Naruto reached the source of the noise, he saw Konohamaru being strangled by an unknown shinobi. "Hey! What do you think you are doing? Leave him now!" Naruto shouted. "Who are you brat? It's none of your business. Get lost" the strangler said.

The bully let loose all the amount of killer intent he could muster; but it was not enough to stop the blonde. The attacker was a little surprised but didn't budge. The blonde girl who stood by the bully finally spoke up, "Stop it Kankuro, these midgets aren't worth it"

"Hey! Who are you calling short?!" Naruto shouted again. He again looked towards Kankuro, "I said, leave him…NOW"

Kankuro took out a few shurikens from his free hand while Naruto swiftly took out a kunai and stood ready. "I know you guys are from Sunagakure, but I don't know what business you guys have here. Anyhow, attacking a ninja from an ally village could even start a war. You really want to do it?" Naruto said.

The Suna shinobi smirked mysteriously, as if they were hiding something. Just as Kankuro was about to make his move, he felt multiple sharp objects on his neck, threatening to pierce his flesh in an instant. "Didn't you hear what Naruto-sama said." A voice came from behind Kankuro "Drop him now. I am a Konoha Chunin and I have authority to deal with those who disturb the peace of this village."

Kankuro growled but dropped Konohamaru, finally giving up. Naruto smirked at his friend, "Nice work Haku"

He smirked back, "No problem" Haku wondered if he was picking up Naruto-sama's antics. He would need to think about it later.

"Kankuro" a heavy and monotone voice came from a nearby tree. All of them looked up towards the source, only to find a Suna shinobi, not taller than Naruto, but still he had an aura around him which was dark and unpleasant. He let loose a massive amount of killer intent and continued.

"You are a disgrace to our village. If you fool around anymore, I will kill you myself" he glanced a look towards Naruto.

The blonde was feeling an unusual type of familiar-ness towards the redhead, as if he knew him from a long time ago. Their eyes met and redhead immediately felt the same way as the blonde.

"What's your name Konoha shinobi" the redhead commanded more than asked.

"Isn't it wise to give your own name first Suna shinobi" the mentioned redhead narrowed his eyes but replied nonetheless, "I am Gaara of the Sand"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki"

They stood silent for a moment. They both recognised each other, not by name, but by the burden they carried. They were the Jinchurikis of their respective village, and they knew the other was as well.

Haku let go of Kankuro, who immediately vanished in a swirl of sand. His fellow shinobi too left in a same manner. Naruto rushed to Konohamaru's side, "Hey, you okay?" "Yeah *cough* I'm good *cough* Thanks Naruto and …"

"Oh yeah, Konohamaru, this guy here is Haku." "Nice to meet you Konohamaru-san" Haku bowed.

Konohamaru sweat-dropped.

"He is bit on the formal side" whispered the blonde. The kid nodded in understanding. Konohamaru's teammates helped him and they took their leave.

"I gotta go Haku, we have a team meeting" Naruto said. "Okay Naruto-sama, I will see you tomorrow" Naruto nodded and ran towards the desired training ground.

 **:::::**

 **Three hours later:-**

"Hey guys" waved the carefree Jounin.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI YOU ARE LATE!" shouted Naruto and Sakura simultaneously

"I'm sorry guys but I got lost on the road of life…" he said philosophically. The Genins huffed but didn't say anything. "More importantly" the masked man continued, "I brought you all a good news!"

They all raised eyebrows…even Sasuke.

"I nominated you all for the Chunin Exams!" Kakashi declared excitedly.

"What's that?" "The Chunin Exams. It's an exam you can give to get promoted to Chunin. They are held twice a year" Sakura smiled, Naruto pumped his fist while Sasuke smirked. "Now…do you all want to take it?" Kakashi asked.

"Of course!" yelled the blonde. "Is that a question?" said Sasuke. Kakashi looked towards Sakura. She seemed in deep thought. "Sakura…you don't have to take it if you don't want to" Kakashi assured her.

She looked towards her sensei with a determined face. "No sensei…I will do it" Kakashi smiled, "The guys couldn't have taken the exams if you said no" "WHAT?!" Naruto yelled once again.

"It is a team exam after all. You will all have to work as a team. Are you all ready?" "HELL YEAH!" they chorused together.

"Then here are the forms. Fill them and bring them along with you at the academy tomorrow morning at 8 am. Room 301. See ya" The Copy-nin gave a casual wave and poofed away.

 **AN:** I know it is a little short but bear with it. I promise the next chapter will be longer. Those who haven't checked out my other story 'Life of Namikaze's Legacy', please do. I hope you like it. These two stories will be updated every couple of months. I know it feels too long but I haven't been getting time lately. Those who think that these stories are not worth to be waited for so long; I completely understand you guys. I have a complete structure planned out for this fic.

I will be updating the stories every other week from May, 2017 onwards. Thanks for reading and don't forget to REVIEW!

Smell ya later.


	2. Chapter 2 : A lost friend

**CHAPTER – 2**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Anime.

 **AN:** I edited and uploaded this chapter on 23-09-2016. It was a minor edit, mainly the change in my writing style.

I have done a lot of thinking and I found out that this story will be same to the canon one till Sasuke Retrieval mission. The real story will start from there.

This chapter starts from when Naruto and Sasuke are standing in the Valley of Death, and thus this chapter marks the start of the real story.

I know you guys might be thinking that I have been skipping way too much, but here's the deal; I really don't feel like writing the exact same stuff we have all read/watched. There might be some criticism, but you will realize what I'm trying to do after a few chapters pop out. So please be patient.

There's one last thing I want to say; as I mentioned earlier, this story will have a little reference to the anime 'One Piece'. In terms of 'One Piece', this story will have the same system of 'Bounties' as in 'One Piece', i.e. there will be bounties on respectable ninjas issued by the enemy villages, or their own villages in case of missing-nins.

"SASUKE! I came to take you back!" came a voice.

The Uchiha looked towards his friend,

"I am not coming back Naruto, even if I have to kill you, I will escape"

"You are not thinking clearly. Let's…let's just…have a talk…" Naruto replied

Sasuke's anger reflected clearly "You wanna talk?! There's nothing to talk about anymore! You don't understand Naruto. You never had a family…you won't understand the pain of losing them! It's clear Naruto…my path…"

He looked in his eyes "I am an Avenger! I can't survive until I Avenge! I have to be stronger than my prey…I have to be stronger than…him. This power…Orochimaru…they are all footholds for me to reach him! You can't understand Naruto…and I don't expect you too. If you want to stop me…come at me with all your might! I will sever all bonds to gain the ultimate power!"

Naruto was patiently listening to every word his friend said, trying to put himself in his shoes. He didn't understand it until the very end.

"Heh…is that what you think Sasuke…its pathetic" he said.

Sasuke's eyes glowed with anger, "What did you say?!"

"I said…what you think is pathetic. You think severing all bonds will gain you power? It wouldn't. If fact, it's just the opposite."

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO LECTURE ME DEMON!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

"You heard it!"

"Is that what you think…after all the time we have spent…after the bond we developed…you think that…" Naruto asked. His expression was a mix of uncertainity, disguist and shock.

Sasuke gave him a smug smile, knowing he had struck a weak point.

If you think that, it's fine." Naruto mumbled.

A tear trickled down from the blonde's face, "Get lost and live with your pathetic ideology. I came to save a friend…but you have fallen too low for me to pick up" Naruto said.

"What?! You are gonna just let me go?!" Sasuke asked in shock. He expected a fight after what he said.

"Yeah, didn't you hear it…Get lost."

"We will meet again someday Uzumaki" Sasuke was eagerly wanted the last say.

"FUCK OFF ASSHOLE!SAY ONE MORE WORD AND I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU!" Naruto snapped.

Sasuke left and Naruto sat down, only one thing going through his mind,

' _Why can't you understand Sasuke…you have to understand…all of this…will just lead to your own destruction…Sasuke…'_

 **One hour later:-**

' _Shit, where are they, where are they…There!'_

"Naruto! Are you all right?! What happened?!"

Naruto was sitting with his face buried in his knees. He looked up at a familiar voice,

"Oh Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke ran away"

"What?! It's okay, there's nothing you could have done. Are you hurt?" Kakashi was surprised.

"No I'm all right…we talked…"

"What?!" now, Kakashi was shocked.

"We talked…but we didn't fight…he isn't worthy to be called a friend anymore…he fell to low" said Naruto remembering the entire conversation.

Kakashi grasped the situation quickly. He understood what it felt like to lose a friend, he had felt it himself, not once but twice.

' _A lot is going on in his mind…he will decide what he wants to do for himself in time. For now…'_

"Naruto, let's go back to the village." he said.

"Alright sensei, let's go"

The blonde glanced once at the spot where Sasuke was standing. He closed his eyes to stop the memory flow and followed his sensei towards the woods.

 **After some time (at Konoha's North Gate):-**

Kakashi entered the village along with his student. He knew Naruto was in a turmoil inside and he didn't strike a conversation the entire journey. While walking towards the Hokage-tower, his student's expression suddenly changed. His faced seemed in less pain, his walk became determined and his eyes had a spark. All of this indicated one thing; his student had come to a decision.

"Naruto"

"Yes, sensei"

"What did you decide?"

He looked in his teacher's eye, "I'm gonna leave the village". Kakashi stopped in his tracks,

"WHAT?!" he yelled.

"Calm down…I can explain it"

"Please do!"

"Let's talk in front of the Hokage"

"I would like that. Let's see what she has to say."

 **:::::**

Shizune popped her head from the ajar door,

"Lady Tsunade, its Kakashi and Naruto"

"Send them in!" Tsunade ordered.

"Right away"

 **:::::**

"Alright Kakashi, is that all you have to report?"

"Yes Hokage-sama, this is all I saw…but I believe Naruto also has a few things to say…"

Tsunade looked towards Naruto.

"Before I say anything, can you call for Sakura and Haku?" he said. Tsunade looked a bit worried, "Yeah…sure". She made a gesture and an ANBU appeared. "Call Genin Sakura Haruno and Chunin Haku here immediately" the ANBU nodded and went to complete his assigned task.

Sakura and Haku came quickly and were relieved to see Naruto safe, but were worried that Sasuke left. Seeing everyone's presence, Naruto started;

"I came to a decision..."

"And?" Tsunade said.

"Well, I'm leaving the village"

"WHAT?! Did the Uchiha hit you on the head brat?!" she yelled.

"No! I just can't take it anymore…this village…I can't live in it anymore…" Sakura and Haku were utterly shocked, just like the others present. Sakura wanted to say something, but in the serious atmosphere and in presence of the Hokage, she stayed quiet.

"Do you understand what you are saying?! What about your dream of becoming the Hokage? Are you gonna leave that behind? Are you gonna leave us all behind and become a Rogue-nin?!"

"Absolutely not! I will never leave my comrades behind!...As for my dream, I wanted to become the Hokage to earn the people's respect…to lead an ideal village, which I believed would be Konoha…but from all the things I have seen now, Konoha has fallen from its might. It's not what it once used to be. It's not what its creators expected it to be, it's not what I expected to be…"

Tsunade understood the direction Naruto's thoughts were headed. After a silence of a few minutes, Tsunade decided to speak, "What do you want brat?" These words shocked everyone more than Naruto's word.

"I want to leave this village"

"You will become a Missing-nin. Are you sure about that?"

"Kick me out of the Shinobi Forces. As a civilian, I can go anywhere I want."

"It can't be done Naruto and you know it. As a jinchuriki, you can't leave this village unless I command you to do so. And as a Hokage, I can't command a loyal shinobi to just get out of the village, especially not a jinchuriki, but if you want, I can discuss it with the council"

"Help me out here Granny, I can't live here anymore…" Naruto was a step short from begging.

"Sure thing brat, I will see what I can do. And don't you dare run away on me. Got it?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it. See you later then." Naruto left the office.

"Sakura, Haku, you both are dismissed" They both ran after their friend.

"*sigh* what do you think about it Kakashi?"

"It can't be helped Lady Hokage. You know how determined he is when it comes to a decision. If that's the path he has choose for himself, we can't stop him."

"*sigh*I guess you are right…" she mumbled to herself.

"By the way Lady Tsunade, do you honestly think the council will just let their Jinchuriki leave?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Don't worry Kakashi, I'm not that naïve. This topic will come in the council meeting. I just made that up in front of Naruto to buy some time…Kakashi, I have a favour to ask you, not as a Hokage but as Naruto's friend…"

"Yes Tsunade-sama, anything you say" Tsunade formed a few hand-seals and the room glowed in fluorescent yellow, indicating the implication of a privacy seal.

 **After some time:-**

"Do you understand Kakashi?"

"Yes Tsunade-sama, completely…are you sure about this?"

"Yes, I have decided. You may leave"

"Alright then, I will see you some time later" Tsunade nodded sharply and Kakashi left. She disabled the privacy seal and left her office.

 **After some time (On a street bench) (9 pm):-**

"Can you do this Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked him.

"Of course Tsunade! He is my Godson after all. If this is what he decided, I have faith in him."

"Alright then Jiraiya, I will see you few hours later"

"Got it"

 **After some time (At Naruto's house):-**

*Snore* *Snore* "Hey Naruto, wake up!" whispered someone

*Snore* "WAKE UP!" whispered the man with all his might. Naruto suddenly woke up and reached for a weapon, "What?! Who-"

"Naruto calm down, it's me" an eye-smile followed the statement.

"Kakashi-sensei?! What are doing here?" He glanced towards his clock, which showed 1 pm.

"At this time? What's wrong?!"

"Nothing's wrong Naruto, and I am not alone" Naruto looked around and he could make out two more figures in the room; one with abnormally long hair and one with abnormally large breasts.

"Pervy-sage?! Granny Tsunade?!"

A tick mark appeared on the addressed persons, but they remained quiet.

"Shh Naruto, don't shout and listen well" said Jiraiya. He gestured Tsunade to speak, he wasn't good in situations like these.

"Listen Naruto, it's about your decision of leaving the village. The thing is-"

"If you are all here to capture me, I am not going down without a fight!" Naruto entered a basic stance. They all sighed.

"Do you really think two Sannin and a Jounin will come together to catch a Genin?" said Tsunade.

"Well…I guess you are right…but if you do anything to capture me-"

"Should I just knock the kid out?" Jiraiya said irritated.

"No Jiraiya, you won't *sigh* Just shut up and listen Naruto" Tsunade released a bit of Killer Intent. The blonde quieted down.

"You know a jinchuriki can't leave the village as he pleases and you know that taking this to the council is useless. If you are gonna leave, you will become a Rogue-nin. Are you willing to do this knowing the risks?" Naruto sat down on his bed.

"Yeah, I can live with that rather than living in this village"

"Alright then Naruto, if you are really going to do it, we all are gonna help you with that"

"WHAT?! You guys-"

"I told you to listen brat!" Naruto shut up quickly.

"Now then, it's just as I said, we are gonna help you leave the village. It's a fact you can't leave the village on your own, so we are gonna help you till the Village border. After that you are all alone. Is that all right?" Tears began forming in Naruto's eyes.

"You guys…you are the best!"

"Alright Naruto, no need to cry. If we are doing this, we have to do it fast. Pack all the essentials you need, quickly" Tsunade said. Jiraiya grinned and Kakashi did an eye-smile. Naruto nodded and got to work.

While Naruto was packing, Kakashi used his summons to detect Naruto's scent in his luggage and destroy it, so that the blonde can leave without leaving a trail. Meanwhile, Jiraiya quickly put a genjutsu on the house to prevent the ANBU from detecting of any activities.

"Are you done Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, all done" he nodded.

"Good. Throw your bag from the window" Kakashi said.

"What?"

"Just do it brat, we don't have much time" Tsunade interfered.

"Alright" Naruto opened his window and pushed his backpack away, but he didn't hear the sound of his backpack crashing on the floor as he expected. Naruto popped his head out of the window. Once more, tears began forming in his eyes.

"You guys…" Whom he saw was Haku holding his backpack and beside him was standing Sakura.

"Let's hurry Naruto-sama!"

"Quit slacking off Naruto, come on, quick!" Sakura said in a hush. Naruto nodded desperately and jumped from the window. The trio behind him followed closely. All of them began running in the direction of closest border.

 **:::::**

They all reached the border safely, without running into Village or Border Patrol, courtesy of Jiraiya. Naruto was standing on the border with eyes overflowing with tears.

"You guys are the best!"

"Alright alright, don't get all emotional on me now. We all did this for your sake Naruto, because we all have faith in you." Said Tsunade smiling. Jiraiya had a grin, Kakashi and Sakura gave a thumbs up while Haku was adjusting his backpack…adjusting his backpack?

"Haku! What do you think you are doing?!" Naruto asked.

"What do you think? I am going with you of course" Haku answered, quite amused.

"What?! No, you can't go!" Naruto started to wave his hands.

"I can. I decided to follow Naruto-sama all my life, be it heaven or hell, I will always follow you" he replied in an obvious tone.

"You are just not thinking this clearly…calm down and-"

"I have made my choice. I'm going with you" Naruto looked towards Tsunade, who shrugged.

"Alright fine" he said giving up.

Just as Naruto was about to leave, "Wait a second Naruto" He looked back.

"Yeah pervy-sage?" he asked. Jiraiya smiled, but it soon vanished.

"There's something I must tell you Naruto…"

"What is it?" Naruto asked.

"It's about your parents…" Naruto was shocked,

' _He knew?!'_ he thought.

"Well, your mom was Kushina Uzumaki 'The Red Hot Habanero' and she was a Konoha Jounin"

"WHAT?! How was she?! She was strong wasn't she?!"

' _That was quick!'_ Naruto thought.

Jiraiya nodded, "Right on mark. She was one of the strongest kunoichi I know, and one of the most temperamental one too, even more than Tsunade"

"You're kidding…" Naruto said in awe.

"No I'm not. But the thing I remember most about her…she was among the most beautiful women I've ever seen" he said, nodding to himself. Naruto just stood there in awe.

"I wonder where her beauty genes went…" Jiraiya added as an afterthought. A rage mark appeared on Naruto's head, as everybody giggled to themselves.

"And your dad…" Jiraiya continued, making sure to create suspense. He was an author after all. Naruto was listening attentively.

"Well…he was my student, the strongest person I know, the kindest and the most sacrificing for others and the luckiest for having Kushina. His name was Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime" he declared proudly.

"WHAT?!" Naruto was utterly surprised. He felt weak in the knees. He was an orphan, a jinchuriki and an average ninja. It was eminently tough to picture himself as the Yondaime's son. Sure they both had blonde hair…but seriously! Then the next question came to his mind. It was the Yondaime who sealed the Kyuubi in him.

"My dad…why…did he do this to me?"

"You know the answer kid…" Jiraiya replied.

Naruto had already guessed it. Simply because, there was no other way. It was a simple answer, but for Naruto, it was the most difficult one.

"But still…" Jiraiya put a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen kid, you dad has sealed his and your mom's chakra in the seal. I am sure you will meet them…I'm just not sure when" Naruto looked up with his tear-stained face.

"I'm grateful to you sensei, to have told me all this" he thanked genuinely.

"Don't sweat it kid. I am your Godfather and I will always be there for you. Remember that" Jiraiya once again grinned. Naruto nodded and wiped his tears off.

"Hey brat, before you go, take this with you" Tsunade said. She took out a large scroll from her back, which surprisingly Naruto never noticed.

"What's this Granny?"

"This, is the beloved, Scroll of Sealing"

"WHAT?! Why are you giving me this?! It contains our Villages secret Jutsus! Granny…"

"It's alright brat. You can have it. Rather, I should say, it belongs to you"

"Belongs to me?!"

"Yeah. Most of the jutsus in here were written by your old man. It even contains his most prized technique; The Hiraishin"

"Really!"

"Yeah, so I guess you can have it"

"Thanks..." he barely managed to speak out.

"Naruto" Jiraiya spoke up, "Let me warn you. I tried learning the Hiraishin once, but even trying it for one whole year, I was unable to do it; though I'm one of the rare existing Seal Master. It's not easy Naruto, don't underestimate it" Naruto smiled.

"Don't worry I won't"

"Oh, and one more thing" Jiraiya reached for inside his dress and took out a small scroll.

"Here, it's from me. From beginner to expert level Sealing, everything is in there. It's my own and I wrote it from my experience. It contains everything I know about seals. I leave it in your possession Naruto"

"Really! Thanks Pervy-sage!" Jiraiya smiled and stepped back.

"Here Naruto, there's something from me for both you and Haku" Kakashi stepped up.

"Really! What is it?" Naruto couldn't wait. Technically, this was the first time he had ever received gifts from his loved ones, aside from the Sandaime.

"It's a book of ninjutsus written by me; from the experience of all the jutsus I know, I picked out the ones I thought were best from my usage."

"Thanks a lot sensei!" Naruto beamed.

"I thank you Kakashi-san" Haku bowed. Kakashi eye-smiled and stepped back.

"So, what are your plans now Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"I persuaded Lady Tsunade to make me her apprentice!"

"Wow, that's great! Granny is really strong…I guess we will meet again someday then"

"We will Naruto. Take care" Sakura gave him a warm smile.

"You too Sakura…everyone" All of them smiled and once again silenced reigned. Tears once again formed in the blonde's eyes. He bowed as deep as he could.

"I am really thankful to all of you. I won't forget what you all have done for me. Thank you…" He stood up

"I'm off then…" He glanced towards Haku. They both nodded and Naruto jumped towards the woods. Haku also gave all of them a deep bow and followed his master.

 **A day later:-**

"Haku…how do you how to read maps so well?"

"It's really simple actually"

"If not for you, I would have lost by now. By the way, where's the nearest civilisation?"

"It's about an hour far from here. I think we are far enough from the village. Should we stop now?"

"Yeah, we should definitely stop. My legs are hurting too bad. Let's just take a few hours rest at the town and leave real quick. Granny said she would hold the Hunter nins for a few days."

"Alright. We are only an hour away. Let's do a Henge now to be on the safe side"

"Yeah fine"

 **In the town:-**

"Look there, a dango shop. Let's just eat there. Do you like dango?" Naruto inquired.

"Sure, why not?" Haku answered.

"Okay, let's go"

"Hey mister, can we get two plates dango please?" Naruto ordered.

"Coming right up"

"Alright, thanks"

XXXXX

"These dangos sure are delicious"

"Yeah" Naruto suddenly stopped munching,

"Do you sense that Haku?"

"Yeah…the chakra…it's…different"

"It is. Let's check it out"

"Sure" Both of them walked towards the source, who was a simple-looking civilian girl.

"Something's wrong about her Haku. There shouldn't be any ninja other than Konoha-nins in here."

"I agree"

"Her chakra seems familiar. Let's tail her for some time"

"Are you sure Naruto-sama"

"Yeah"

"Okay, then"

After some time, the girl left the busy streets and made her way to a dirt trail, which led to the top of a mountain. The duo followed her suit. The girl reached at the top of the mountain, to a simple house. She formed a single hand sign, and surprisingly enough, dropped the Henge. The girl turned out to be a redhead, clad with a black headband and simple clothes. Naruto was utterly surprised.

' _Tayuya?! I thought she was dead! Her guard is down, now's the chance.'_ Naruto took out a kunai and pounced towards the shocked girl. He quickly wrestled her down and held a kunai on the throat, rendering her movements useless. Naruto let loose all the Killer Intent he could muster, which was more than enough to shut the girl enough.

She instantly recognized the blonde,

' _Fuck fuck fuck fuck…why the hell is he here?!'_

"W-what do you want? If it's about your friend, I don't anything about him, I swear!" she said.

Naruto blanked out in thought of his friend for a moment, but collected himself quickly.

"I don't give a damn about that asshole. I need to know why you are alive. What are your plans?"

"What?! I don't have any other plans, I am retired from being a shinobi"

"Yeah, sure. Haku, tie her up" They both took her inside the house and tied her up securely.

"Now Tayuya, I need to know what spy mission are you doing for that snake and how are you still alive?"

"I don't have anything to do with him! Luckily I was alive from the last attack that Suna girl hit me with. I just lost consciousness, that's all"

"Tell me the whole thing"

"*sigh*I was laying in the middle of the forest unconscious. Someone from the village found me and since I don't carry any ninja tool, he didn't suspect me for being a shinobi. He brought me to this village and treated me. When I was healed, I ran away and I am living in this house since then. I just go to the village under a Henge to buy supplies. I'm done with being a shinobi. That's the whole story!"

The blonde glared at her for a minute, then said,

"Haku"

"She is saying the truth Naruto-sama"

"Alright" He turned towards his prisoner,

"Since now you know I'm here…I will have to kill you" he turned towards Haku, who nodded. The blonde continued,

"I'm sorry but I can't leave any loose ends" and took out a kunai.

"What?! Are you kidding me?! I won't tell anyone I swear! Please don't kill me!" he stopped.

"It's strange. Now that I think about it…your hair remind me of someone…which clan are you from?"

"I think…Uzumaki…but I don't know…who they are…never heard about them…" she said between sobs. Naruto's eyes were as wide as saucers. He looked towards his comrade, who had the same look.

"It that true?! You're Tayuya Uzumaki?!" she nodded desperately.

"Shit!" Naruto quickly untied her using the kunai.

"What's wrong? You're not gonna kill me?!" she asked shockingly.

"I'm sorry. It was a terrible mistake" She looked at him confused. Naruto stretched his hand

"Nice to meet you Tayuya, I'm Naruto Uzumaki!"

"What the fuck?!"

"That's right, we share the same family name!"

"That means…we are related?! Do you know something about the Uzumaki?!"

"Yeah, a lot" he nodded.

"Can you tell me?"

"Sure"

XXXXX

The next hour, Naruto told everything he knew about the Uzumaki clan; about them being seal masters, how they were wiped out in war, and how their ruins still exist. Haku too, was fairly interested in the history. The conversation between Naruto and Tayuya was as if they knew each other from many years. Their loudness gave the primary hint of them being as Uzumaki.

"So Naruto, where are you headed now? You on a mission?" Naruto pointed at his forehead, which was missing the forehead protector.

"No way! Did you…"

"Yeah, I left the village"

"Why?"

"It's…not what I expected it to be. Just being in that village…gives me a hard time…"

"Yeah, I get it. You are a jinchuriki after all...that means…you are a Rogue-nin now?!"

"Yeah"

"That's cool!" she said enthusiastically. The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"What's cool about that?"

"Just…Fuck it!...so, what do you plan on doing now?"

"Nothing really, I am just trying to get out of the Fire country right now…what do you plan on doing?"

"Nothing really…the truth is…I miss being a shinobi…"

"Yeah?" She nodded.

"Well, I was thinking about it…do you want to come with me?" The other occupants of the room were shocked.

"Are you sure about this Naruto-sama?" Haku inquired.

"Yeah, why not? She is my family after all"

"Really! Will you take me?!"

"Yup"

"That snake never made me do this, but I will do it for you" Naruto was confused, but Tayuya got up and took Naruto's kunai. She deeply stabbed the kunai in her palm and blood came gushing out,

"I, Tayuya Uzumaki, swear my loyalty to you, Naruto Uzumaki, until the day I die"

"Whoa, that's enough! You gotta close that wound first!"

Naruto helped her apply bandage while Haku was smiling,

' _He did it again. I guess he has the vibe to attract people and make them follow him blindly. That's his gift. He makes others trust him even in the direst situations…'_

However, something too was going on in Tayuya's mind,

' _I don't know if it's true, things he is saying about the Uzumaki. He has potential, I know he will become strong, and with that there will be money! If I stay with him, there will be lots of money and I can be safe with these guys, brilliant plan! Maybe, if I get a chance, I'll get the money which we earn and run away, that's it! But he is family…what am I thinking about, I don't even properly know him…'_

 **The next day:-**

"You both ready?" Naruto asked. Both of them nodded.

"Alright then. Let's leave quickly before sunrise" saying that, the blonde grabbed his backpack and left the house, being followed by two others.

XXXXX

"So…where are we going Naruto?" said the redhead. The Jinchuriki shrugged,

"I don't know…the next town maybe?"

"What?! You don't know where you have to go and you don't know which path to take…and you seriously left the village?" she glared at Haku.

"Don't look at me, that is how he is"

She finally sighed, letting go of her momentary anger and took out rolled piece of paper.

"Look, here's the map of the nearby surroundings. It shows about one tenth of the Fire Country" she placed a finger at the bottom left edge,

"This is where we are" and dragged her finger towards a particular place,

"And this is the nearest civilisation. What do you say? It's about an hour if we use chakra"

"Sure, let's get there first. We'll think about the future plans at the town" Tayuya nodded.

"Excuse me Naruto-sama, Tayuya-san, but if I'm not wrong, we must not gather much attention by stopping from town to town, even if we are under a Henge; we are missing-nin after all"

"Hmmm, you are right, we should just cover as much ground as we can and just live in the jungle. Konoha's gonna send Hunter-nin after all, but if we cross the border, they can't do nothing. So?"

"I agree Naruto-sama" Haku accepted.

"Fine by me" Tayuya supported.

"Alright then, let's hurry" Naruto said.

 **For the next few days, the teams adventure continued, which consisted of running towards the border day until they exhausted themselves, hunt for food, get sleep while keeping alternate watch and repeating the schedule the next day.**

 **Three days later (Evening):-**

"There it is, I can see it! Once we cross that mountain, we will officially cross the Fire country's border!" Haku said to the teams relieve.

"Fucking finally! I HATE our schedule! I want a bath so bad…"

"Konoha's jurisdiction end after that mountain. Looks like we made it Naruto-sama"

"Yeah, let's hurry!" They all nodded and increased their speed as much as they could.

XXXXX

Just when they reached the bottom of the mountain, out of instinct, all of them hurriedly jumped away. As soon as they did, a few flying shuriken impaled near the spot they were standing.

' _Shit! We are all exhausted right now, we can't afford a fight! These guys are probably the Hunter squad. Damn, we are so close!'_ Naruto thought. The blonde's teammates too, were thinking along the same lines.

"Come out, whoever you are!" Tayuya shouted. Out of shadows, two figures stepped out.

"Could you explain the council about your decision on the matter Hokage-sama?"

' _Damn you Hawk!'_ the blonde cursed him.

"I will Danzo-san" Tsunade cleared her throat and began,

"As you all know, Genin Jinchuriki of Konoha, Naruto Uzumaki has been missing from the village for four days now. His teachers, friends and acquaintances now nothing about the matter. There is suspicion that he ran away, but there is no solid proof. As of now, I have taken no further action in the matter"

"But Hokage-sama, we must immediately dispatch a Hunter-nin squad to find the Jinchuriki!" said Hamura.

"No, it will not be done until I say so. If memory serves, according to Rules and Regulations of Konoha's Guidelines, 'If found missing, every ninja should be compulsorily given a time of five days to return back to the village', and if I'm not wrong, there's still a day to go"

"But Hokage-sama, he is Kyuubi's Jinchuriki!" She glared at Koharu.

"Do you not approve him as a ninja of Konohagakure No Sato! Or do you simply wish to go against the laws of the village" Knowing resistance was futile, Koharu kept her mouth shut.

 **An Hour Later:-**

Tsunade entered her office to find Jiraiya already waiting for her there. She walked to her seat and sat down. After a long sigh, she asked,

"How long have you been waiting?"

"Not much, just a few minutes…So, how did it go?"

"*sigh* they just aren't giving up. I can hold them off for just one more day. After that, I have to dispatch hunter-nin"

"It's alright, I'm sure Gaki will cross the border by tomorrow if things go smooth"

"I doubt they would. What about Danzo?"

"I'm keeping a close watch on him. He hadn't send someone yet from the ROOT, but it seems it will be some activity tonight…Anyhow, I will receive news about Gaki if he visits any of the Ninja-inhabited towns."

"That's a little comforting" she nodded.

"I will be going now, see you at the hot spr- TOMORROW!" Jiraiya cursed himself for letting it slip.

"What did you say pervert?! You have been spying on me?!" The Toad Sage sweated.

"Well…heh…not particularly you…there are some others…and-" a chakra infused punch send him flying home and Tsunade finally relaxed.

"Who are you guys?!"

"Oh, it's only a brat *phew* let's just get this over with. Hey Brat! Who are you and why are trying to cross the border without permission?! We are the Sand border patrol team!" The trio kept quiet.

"Well, if you're not gonna tell us…" he took out a kunai,

"Then we will have to use force!" Tayuya was about to take out her flute when Naruto stopped her.

"Don't. Attacking foreign Nins will only degrade out status to hostile. Besides, we are in no condition to fight. Let's just use the remaining chakra to escape" They both nodded after a moment,

"Run!" The trio left behind a cloud of dust, confusing the enemy for a split-second.

"Shit! We can't catch up with them, they are too fast"

"Let's call the headquarters! Three Ninjas just invaded the Wind Country border!"

"Yeah"

XXXXX

"Did we lose them?" asked Naruto.

"Maybe…there's no one behind us" Haku replied

"*Phew* that's a relief" Naruto said and lowered his pace.

"Where to next Naruto?" asked Tayuya.

"We definitely can't go to any town nearby. And the border's just up ahead, so there will be no forest to hide in once we enter the Wind Country. That leaves…you guys check the map if-" Naruto was cut in between.

"Naruto-sama, the map was only till the border, we don't have any map of this region"

"Shit!...then let's just head out to the mountains. We sure will find a cave there. Suppress your chakra as much as you can" Naruto said.

"Right!" they responded simultaneously and at the same moment, the trio crossed the border.

 **AN:** And that was the second chapter! It might occur to you that the pace was too fast, but don't worry. The pace will get better in the following chapters.

Since I'm not good at coming up with Japanese names, I'm gonna name many minor characters in this fic by recklessly snatching names from the other Anime. I am sure you don't mind that.

Thanks to those who reviewed. Please review so that I know how I'm doing with this fic right now. If you guys have any suggestions or if did any mistakes, feel free to tell me.

Smell ya later!


	3. Chapter 3 : Team effort

**CHAPTER – 3**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Anime.

 **AN:** I am getting almost negligible follows, favourites and other stuff for this story and I don't feel like writing it anymore, even then, I will keep writing a few more chapters.

This is just a minor grammar update…and also, a guest suggested me that I should change my paragraph style. I don't get it, but thanks for the compliment anyway. Could you explain in a more brief way?

"There Look! I see a cave!" "Alright! Let's go" "Hai!" "Haku, is there any sign of them" Haku closed his eyes and concentrated "No, I don't sense anyone" "That's good" they arrived at the cave and went inside "Hey Naruto, it's a good place. Not too deep and definitely wide" "Seems we can rest a few days here…alright then Tayuya, get some wood, Haku, come with me, we will go hunting. It's starting to get dark. We will all meet here in an hour." "Hai!" and they dispersed

 **An Hour Later:-**

"Hey Tayuya, you are early" "We are still near the border, I got wood easily. What about you guys?" "We got enough; a wild boar" "Cool, I'll get the fire going" "Okay, but first; Tayuya, your Genjutsu is strong right?" "No doubt" "Can you…cover the cave entrance or something?" "Yeah, I've just enough chakra left" She walked to the entrance and started forming a few quick hand-seals "False Surroundings Technique!" The entrance lit a dim yellow for a few moments and then returned to normal again. Haku walked outside the cave and looked at the entrance "Whoa! I can't see you guys at all. That's quite a technique" "Heh, as expected from Tayuya!" the subject of conversation simply smirked.

"Guys, I have something in mind" started Naruto "And?" asked Haku "Well, I was thinking…ever since we left the village, we haven't been getting any time to train. And now, we have a great place to train and stay for a long time. If we have to farther, we need to get stronger. What do you guys say?" "Great idea Naruto" "I approve Naruto-sama" "Great then. Ever since we were travelling together, I have been watching you guys' skills, and I'm sure you both have been too" they both nodded "Alright. Then this is the conclusion I came up with; Haku is a strong Ninjutsu user, but lacks proper Taijutsu, and maybe can use a few more jutsus. Tayuya has a strong Genjutsu, but lacks both Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and a decent Chakra Reserve, due to over-dependence on the Cursed Seal" the aforementioned redhead smiled sheepishly "So, I guess Haku will work on Taijutsu and learning a few Jutsus, and Tayuya will work on Taijutsu and Chakra Reserves" they both nodded and Naruto reached his backpack and took out a scroll. He tossed it to Haku "Naruto-sama, is this the scroll Kakashi-san gave you?" "Yup" "Are you…sure…you want us to learn from it?" "What are you talking about? We are a team now, and I'm willing to help my team in any way I can" both of them smiled.

"Haku, look up for any jutsus that suit you, and I believe that you can train yourself?" "Of course Naruto-sama" "Great. Tayuya, I believe that you don't know about Water-walking?" "Nope, what is it?" "Alright then, follow me!"

 **For the next two months, the team spent their days hiding in the cave and preparing themselves for the journey ahead.**

 **Two Months Later (Morning):-**

"Wake up sleepy head…I said Wake up!" "Huh? What? Tayuya?" She tossed the blonde a roll of paper "Here, that's the local map" "Reassuring…wait, how did you get it?" "There's a town nearby" "You went in town?!" "Jeez relax, it's alright, there were no ninjas there, we went in and out really fast" "We? You went with Haku?!" "I said relax already!" "Where's Haku?" "Right there" the redhead stepped aside to reveal the third teammate "Good morning Naruto-sama" "*phew* morning Haku…so, any news?" "I have found out something Naruto-sama" "Let's hear it" "As we all know, Sunagakure is located somewhere in the bottom-right of Wind Country, and we are almost at the border, so there's almost no ninjas in the place we are in. Our early encounter with the Suna-nins was merely a co-incidence because Sunagakure sends a patrol team fortnightly to check the border, which is not enough. Also, they don't pay any attention to this part of the country, hence the people we met were hardly Chunin level" "I see, but what's your point" "The town I just sneaked in along with Tayuya is captured under a group of weak missing-nins. All of them are Chunins and are taking advantage of the lack of authority." "And what does it has to do with us?" asked the redhead "Well, while you were busy stealing the map and the clothes-" "You stole it?!" the blonde burst. Tayuya simple shrugged "What? We are criminals anyway! Be grateful, I brought you some clothes. Get rid of that disgusting orange!" "Fine…but Haku, I still don't see your point" "It's because your aren't letting me finish" Naruto rubbed his neck sheepishly "Heh…please continue"

"As I said, while she" he pointed towards the redhead "was busy stealing, I was talking to the general people, gathering information. It seems that a group of Suna-nins, most probably a team of Chunins are coming here to help the town and get rid of the missing-nins. And I heard them they are leaded by Kankuro-san" "Kankuro?! That's great! We will have to meet him. He can help us!" "Precisely" "Uhh…who is this Kankuro guy?" "I will tell you later, but first, when are they coming Haku?" "Sometime tonight" "Great! We will just hide in the town and wait for the right situation to meet him, we are missing-nins after all" "Right" "Okay"

 **Later that night:-**

"Are everyone in position?" came a voice over the radio buzzing "Hai" came two voices "Alright. These radios are great Tayuya. You sure are a good thief" "…" "Jokes aside, stay alert guys" "Naruto-sama, I can sense them, about a few kilometres away. There are three of them" "Good. Tayuya, are you ready?" "Of course" "Alright then, ready to intercept"

"Secret Genjutsu: Blackout!" the three running shinobi suddenly fell to the ground, completely unconscious "Whoa…I never imagined it to be that effective. Alright guys, let's go!" The shinobi nodded and jumped out of their respective Genjutsu-hidden spot. They quickly picked up the fallen shinobi and left.

"Hey, wake up…come on, wake up" "Huh, where am I? Where- Naruto! What are you doing here?!" "Shut up! Don't yell. It's me, Naruto. Nice to see you" "What? What are you doing here anyway? The last I remembered, it was some kind of intense Genjutsu…" "That would be me" the redhead stepped forward "Nice to meet you Kankuro" "Hey! Aren't you that girl from Sound-four!...and you! You are that Konoha Chunin!" "Nice to see you again Kankuro-san" Kankuro immediately stretched his hand for a kunai, but it was caught in mid-air "No need Kankuro, we are not here to hurt you, and I think you know that well. As for your teammates, there they are" the blonde pointed a finger towards the end of the cave they were in. Kankuro could see their teammates passed out in the firelight "Fine, but why are you guys here anyway? And why are you with that girl?"

For the next few minutes, Naruto told Kankuro everything that happened; from his leave from the Village, to the present day. "I understand Naruto. What do you need my help for?" "As I told you, we have been here for the past two months. It's time for us to move on to somewhere else, and if possible, can you help us get out of the Wind Country safely? It was not a problem in the Fire Country, since I knew it well, but the Wind Country is a foreign land." "Of course I will help you Naruto." "Really?" "That's right" "Thanks Kankuro. I really appreciate it" "Not a problem. And, if you haven't heard yet, Gaara has been chosen as the next Kazekage" "Really?! That's good for him!" "Yeah. But for now, we have a mission to complete" "Yeah, I'm sorry about knocking out your team, but I couldn't risk them seeing that you are friends with a missing-nin" "It's alright. But, where exactly are we?" "Not too far from the town you need to go. Come on, let's wake up your teammates and we will guide you there" "Sure" "Haku, Tayuya, wear your masks, we are leaving"

 **After a while:-**

"That's the place" "Right, I see it. Thanks Naruto" Kankuro stretched his hand, and Naruto took it "I should be thanking you" said the blonde. Just when Kankuro was about to say something, someone interrupted "Oh, there you are. I have been waiting Suna-shinobi! You dare to end my reign!...and you must be the brats who have been sneaking in the village for a few months. Time to end this!" the voice came from atop a tree branch not too far away. The source was a man of medium built, and with a cocky smirk. All of them got in a fighting stance "Shit! They found us! Kuro! Hito! Are you ready?" "Hai Taichou!" "Good. I'm sorry I dragged you into this Naruto" "What are you talking about? Let's just kick their ass! Let's go Haku, Tayuya!" "Hai!" "You are too cocky brats!" said the man "Let's go boys!" he said and a dozen of Shinobi came out of the bushes and trees. The two parties charged at each other with all their might.

As soon as the battle erupted, Naruto formed a cross-shaped hand-seal "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" the jutsu gave life to two dozen battle-ready clones. Half of the clones rushed forward towards the enemies, while the other half, along with Naruto lagged behind and stretched their palms. Slowly but surely, Rasengan began swirling on the clones' palms, while the other half of the clones were holding the enemies from marching ahead. Though the clones were barely able to keep up with the enemies _'Shit! There's no way in hell these guys are low Chunin! My one-handed Rasengans are still too slow…there, it's done!'_ "Eat this. Clone Rasengan Barrage!" the clones charged forward towards the crowd. The clones hit only two of the enemies, who were instantly knocked out from the technique. Others managed to dodge Naruto's mass area Jutsu and after puffing away and the few clones that were left, they advanced forward. Naruto left them, trusting in his team's strength and threw a few shurikens towards their leader.

The man easily dodged them "You bastard! You have enough guts to attack me! I will demolish you!" the man took out a kunai and rushed towards the blonde with great speed. Naruto quickly formed the same hand-seal as earlier "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" and this time, a hundred clones came out. For a moment, the man hesitated, but then charged towards the crowd. He used his kunai expertly and began dissipating the clones. A few of the clones made Rasengan and charged at him, but to no avail. The clones vanished alarmingly and at the end, only the man and Naruto were left. The clones had managed to get a few minor cuts on the man, but nothing much. "A brat like you could never defeat me!" he charged towards Naruto and they engaged in a fierce Taijutsu fight.

Naruto was barely able to keep up with him, but he managed to dodge most of the attacks _'Shit he is fast! Think! Think! I can't rely on quantity in this fight. He is fast, he can easily dodge my Rasengans. Moreover, earlier, giving the clones that much chakra for that Rasengan Barrage was exhausting. I can only win by surprising him. That's it! But it'll take much chakra. I have no other choice'_ Thinking of a plan, the Blonde once again formed the hand-seal "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" and ten clones answered the call. The clones surrounded the man in a circle. "You can't hide brat!" the man began running towards one of them "I don't intend to" came a voice from behind him. When the enemy turned his head towards the source, Naruto had already finished a short series of hand-seals "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" he clapped his hands together and wide, horizontal wave of wind rushed at the enemy. Having been caught by surprise, the Jutsu hit him head-on and the man was sent flying "You think you can defeat me with this pathetic jutsu?!" just as he was about to land, he sensed a presence below him "I don't" and Naruto kicked the man in the back with all his might.

He was sent flying straight upwards, where he was intercepted in mid-air with one more clone, who kicked him on the side, changing his direction and severing a couple ribs. While in mid-air, several of the clones, one by one jumped in the air and kicked the man, tossing him like a pinball among themselves. At last, Naruto himself charged a Rasengan and jumped up _'He can't dodge in mid-air, I'll jam him head-on!'_ Just as he was about to hit the man on the chest, the moment before the Rasengan connected, the man with all his might stabbed a kunai on Naruto's left shoulder. He cried out in pain and jammed the Rasengan on the man's chest. The enemy leader drove straight down and died the moment his body crashed on the ground. Naruto fell beside him and lost consciousness from Chakra Exhaustion.

When she heard his scream, Tayuya stiffened "Naruto!" _'Shit! That asshole! Running straight at the leader!'_ She had already taken out one enemy, and was on the verge of taking out another. She gathered her attention and concentrated in the fight. Her Demons, in her command, were fiercely fighting the enemy. Pissed off, she quickly changed her flute's tune, in an attempt to quickly end the fight, which she did when her opponent was impaled by one of her Demon's claw. She put away the flute and rushed at Naruto's side, who was already unconscious _'He's losing a lot of blood!'_ she quickly unrolled a bandage to provide first-aid.

Hearing Naruto scream, Haku glanced at his side and saw him falling to the ground "Naruto-sama!" He quickly went through a short series of hand-seals "Water Style: Water Dragon!" and collecting water from the nearby well, a water dragon rose in his full might. Haku directed the dragon towards his opponent. The dragon raced forward and caught him in his jaws. The dragon rose in full height and crashed down, head first, with full speed, thus dissipating himself and knocking down the opponent. Haku took out a senbon and threw it at the unconscious enemy's neck, killing him instantly, and thus putting an end to his third opponent. He glanced towards Naruto, only to find Tayuya applying him first-aid. He sighed and looked at Kankuro, who along with his team, was on the verge of killing the last enemy standing.

Seeing the fight finish, Tayuya picked up Naruto on his back and walked towards Haku "How is he Tayuya-san?" just as she was about to speak, Kankuro came rushing "Is Naruto alright?" she nodded "He's alright, out from Chakra Exhaustion" "Okay then, let's go to the base" they all nodded. Haku and Tayuya let them to the cave, started a fire and began cooking some meat left from the previous hunt. They all ate, except Naruto and slept to get a much needed rest.

 **The Next Day:-**

When Haku woke up, he glanced around to see Tayuya and Kankuro's teammates still sleeping. He looked towards the entrance and saw Naruto and Kankuro talking. He got up, woke Tayuya up and walked towards Naruto "I'm sorry if I'm intruding anything Naruto-sama, Kankuro-san" "Oh Haku! How are you? Are you hurt?" "No, I'm fine. What about you?" "I'm all set!" "That's good. You were lucky that it was a flesh wound" said Haku "I guess…well, you guys get ready" "Where're we going?" asked Tayuya as she came walking by "The guys we killed last night, it seems that they had a prisoner. He was trying to fight for the village and those guys locked him up. He too, is a missing-nin, like you guys. Naruto said that he wanted to rescue him" replied Kankuro "Are there any more of those assholes?" said the redhead "None" "Alright then, let's get going Haku, Tayuya" "See you later then Naruto. Thanks to you guys for helping us there. We would have been killed if not for you. My team will leave in an hour. Meet me at the spot one week later and I will handle after that" "Thanks Kankuro. See you later" they both shook hands and Naruto, along with team, departed shortly after.

"So Naruto, why the sudden interest in this guy?" "I don't know. This guy just fought for the sake of a town which wasn't even his home. Kankuro was saying that he heard this guy was living here for only a year. I think that maybe, we can make him come with us" "Seriously Naruto?! You wanna make a guy your comrade whom you will just meet?! Haku, please explain him" "I agree with whatever Naruto-sama says" "Seriously?! How did I get myself here?!" "Relax Tayuya, I just know he is a good guy" "Alright. If you are going to continue expanding our team, we need a name for the team" "A name?" "That's right. How will people know who we are?" "Whoa, we are nowhere that strong that we will get famous" "But still…and you are already the acting leader of the team" "Hey! I never vouched for it!" "You are our leader Naruto, and we respect you as a Leader." Haku nodded and Tayuya continued "If the team has a leader, they will have to respect him, or else the team falls apart. You already have earned our respect, but the others who are gonna join, you haven't. You need to start acting like a Leader Naruto. Understood?!" "Ye-Yeah. I understand" _'Scary!'_

Naruto and his team arrived in front of a moderate looking house. Naruto knocked and a woman opened the door "Yes?" The woman was in her twenties and she was wearing a simple kimono "Umm we are with the Sand shinobi. We came to meet the prisoner" "Oh! Please come in" She stepped aside to let Naruto and company inside "I'm the Town's Elder's daughter, Aiko. Nice to meet you…" "I'm Fukuro. Nice to meet you Aiko-san" ( **AN:** Fukuro = Owl. It's a codename, since Naruto can't reveal his real one.) "Please follow me Fukuro-san" the blonde nodded and followed the lady.

"My father is a doctor. He is looking after the man. We are very grateful to him, for the bravery and passion he showed for the town by trying to fight against them" "But he is alright now, right?" "Yes. I and my father immediately freed him after those ninjas were defeated by you all. He was in a very bad condition, but we took utmost care in treating him" "That's very kind of you" "It's nothing Fukuro-san" She stopped and pointed towards a room "He is right there." "Thank you Aiko-san" she nodded and left.

The trio opened the door and went inside. The room was dimly lit by a few candles. In the middle was a bed, on which a boy was sitting. He immediately stiffed when the team entered the room "Who are you?!" "Relax, we aren't going to hurt you" the boy spread his senses and was immediately shocked when he sensed chakra from his visitors, and in a large amount too. He scanned them quickly but couldn't see any forehead protector. He hastily went to grab a nearby kunai. A moment later, he felt cold steel touching his neck, which immediately stopped his actions "As he said, we aren't here to hurt you" said the girl gripping him "Wh-Who are you guys?!" the blonde who seemed to be the leader walked towards him "I'm Fukuro, and I believe you are Kisuke?" ( **AN:** Sounds Familiar? I'm changing the timeline as per my convenience. I'm sure you don't mind…) "H-How do you know my name?!" "Oh trust me, we know a lot more than that"

"…and that's it. Everything I told you from me leaving the village till we met you, it's all true and that's the story" "So, you are the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi Naruto-san?" Naruto nodded "That's right" "I get it…but…why did you come to meet me?" "Oh…it's just that since you are a missing-nin like us…and since I've already seen your persona…and since you have nowhere else to go…I wanted to invite you to join our team!" "Oh!" Kisuke nodded subconsciously "So?" "Huh?" "Will you join us then?" "…Of course!" Naruto grinned "Yes!" his teammates too welcomed him in the team "Now, let me introduce myself formally…I'm Kisuke 'The Swift' and I pledge my loyalty to my Leader, Naruto-san!" "Great! Welcome aboard Kisuke!"

At the same time, Kisuke thought _'I don't have anywhere to go…there's always trouble everywhere I go…maybe if I stay with these guys, I can be safe…they defeated those assholes, they are definitely strong. For now, I'll stay with them…let's wait out and see'_

 **One Week Later (At Sunrise):-**

Naruto kept his finger at a certain spot "This is where we have to meet Kankuro at noon" the team, comprising Naruto, Haku, Tayuya and Kisuke where sitting in a circle with the local map in the centre "And what after that?" inquired Tayuya "Kankuro said that he knows a path that the Suna ANBU uses to travel through Wind Country. He will get us an un-official escort through the country" "Wow…" "Can we really trust this guy that much Leader?" asked Kisuke "Of course! There's no doubt about it" "Alright then Naruto-sama, let's leave" said Haku. They all nodded, picked up their already packed backpack and left their temporary hideout after wearing their respective masks.

( **AN:** I would like to describe their clothing at this point.

Their masks are pure white, with an exception being Naruto's, which is purple. The masks have no design and are perfectly simple, with two eyeholes and nothing else.

Naruto wears dark-grey pants and black sandals, purple short sleeved T-shirt, and dark-grey full-sleeved long-coat, which is open and dangles till his knees; much like Yondaime's. He also wears black leather gloves. And inside his clothing, is a fishnet armor.

Haku wears more subtle colors, consisting of a white T-shirt, light-grey pants, bandaged palms, black shinobi sandals, and a crème-coloured open jacket. Feel free to imagine a little variation in his hairstyle that goes with the clothing. Also, feel free to imagine Haku more…manly…. As usual, under all the clothing is a fishnet armor.

Tayuya wears black pants (not full-length, three-fourths), blood-red V-neck top, black shinobi sandals, blood-red leather gloves, completed with a black open jacket with folded sleeves. Also, a fishnet armor underneath.

Kisuke…if you don't remember him yet, just google him. He is wearing brown coloured pants, blue T-shirt, blue shinobi sandals, blue leather gloves and a closed full-sleeved brown jacket. Also, a fishnet armor underneath.

And that, my friends was a description of their physical appearance. Any other character that has a role, will be wearing their canon attire unless stated otherwise.

I would also like to give you all a little description of team's abilities.

All of them can be easily considered Chunin-level. Considering that they did two months of pure training, with no missions or village duties to bother with. They all have the jutsus that they had in the canon. They will also learn new jutsus as the story progresses, which will be revealed gradually. And about Kisuke, he can be considered at the same level as the team. Till now, he has no specialties, other than being faster than average. He will get some specialties eventually.

And that was a short description on their abilities. They will continue getting stronger gradually.)

The team travelled at a brisk pace and arrived at the spot a few minutes before scheduled. Kankuro, along with two Suna ANBU was already waiting for them there. "You made it in time Fukuro" "How could I not Kankuro" They both nodded. The puppet master turned towards the ANBU "Alright guys, you already know the mission. As the Kazekage instructed, we have to get these guys out of the Wind Country swiftly and effectively. Let's go" the ANBU nodded and left. Kankuro turned towards the team "They are gonna stay a little ahead to look out for trouble" "Alright. Thanks Kankuro" "No problem. Gaara felt bad that he couldn't meet you personally. He wanted to come but he's the Kazekage now" "I understand. He has done more than enough already. We will sure meet one day" "Yeah…alright then, shall we go?" "Sure. Let's go team!" "Hai!" and all the five shinobis left.

 **AN:** So Naruto has already became the official leader of the group, but he still has a long way to go. In the next chapter, they would have already crossed the Wind Country, to reach the Country of Rivers.

If you have questions regarding the geography, Naruto and group crossed the border between Amegakure (Hidden Rain) and Sunagakure to enter Wind Country. From there on, they are currently travelling to the bottom-most part and after that, they will travel east. Later, they will cross the sea and then cross the little part of Fire Country that is in between. Finally, they will reach the open sea.

Here is a list of simple translations for the unfortunate people who don't know them, but they should.

Konoha/Konohagakure/Konohagakure No Sato = Leaf/Hidden Leaf/Hidden Leaf Village

Suna/Sunagakure/Sunagakure No Sato = Sand/Hidden Sand/Hidden Sand Village

Kumo/Kumogakure/Kumogakure No Sato = Cloud/Hidden Cloud/Hidden Cloud Village

Kiri/Kirigakure/Kirigakure No Sato = Mist/Hidden Mist/Hidden Mist Village

Iwa/Iwagakure/Iwagakure No Sato = Stone/Hidden Stone/Hidden Stone Village

Also, I will be using some words and codenames in Japanese, because it delivers more feel.

If you find any mistakes or plot-holes, feel free to correct me. REVIEW!


	4. Chapter 4 : A tea trader?

**CHAPTER – 4**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Anime.

 **AN:** Thank you all those who showed their appreciation, it compels me to make it better and keep on writing.

All the OCs that I use from now on belongs to 'Scarease'. Any OC that will be my original will be mentioned. Thanks to him for the excellent OCs.

I have done a slight edit in 'Chapter – 2' and 'Chapter – 3' at the part just after Naruto meets his new teammates. Make sure to check it out, it'll be important later in the fic. Also read the bottom AN in this chapter after checking out the above mentioned.

There was some problem in the 'Chapter – 4' I uploaded. I don't know how it happened. It only showed the heading. However, this is the real one.

I have updated my writing style from this chapter onwards, just as a few people suggested. I thank them for their suggestion. I'll update the previous chapters as well.

"Talking"

' _Thinking'_

'Flashback'

 **Ten Days Later:-**

"There Naruto, I can see the border, just where the desert ends"

"Yeah, I see it too Tayuya…looks like we made it"

"Uh-huh" the redhead nodded.

The team's journey was quite peaceful, other than a few bandits, which were easily taken care of by the escorting ANBU. They reached the border and stopped. Naruto turned towards Kankuro, with the team behind him.

"Thanks Kankuro" said the blonde

"Don't mention it…mind if I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"Why didn't you go towards Iwagakure? Why come to Tanigakure?" (AN **:** Tanigakure means 'Village hidden in the Valley')

"Oh…it's just that we are still not ready to roam around in one of the Five Great Nations…it was different in Suna since we met you…I don't wanna take any risk"

"Yeah…alright then, I will leave now"

"Okay. Thanks again Kankuro, we wouldn't have survived if not for you"

"and I wouldn't have survived if not for you guys"

"Then…say my thanks to Gaara and my greetings to Temari"

"Sure" they shook hands and both the parties left towards their desired direction.

XXXXX

"Haku…"

"Yes Naruto-sama?"

"Since…you know Kisuke started calling me Leader, I was wondering if you could stop calling me Naruto- _sama_ " said Naruto giving special emphasis on the suffix "and call me Leader instead, it's a little less weird"

"…Okay then, I can do that"

"Really?! Thanks" Haku nodded and they continued sprinting towards the sea

"Leader"

"Yeah Kisuke?"

"We aren't staying in this country for very long right?"

"It's just as we discussed; we will be staying at a secluded spot for a month. We have to get strong. As we are right now, we can't beat a Jounin if we come across them."

"Yeah, you are probably right. We are missing-nins. We have to be stronger than our predator to be alive." Supported Tayuya

"That's right. After that, we get to the sea, get a boat and sail off. We aren't attracting much attention here" said Naruto. They all nodded and unconsciously increased their pace in enthusiasm.

After a few hours, the dusk fell and sun began sinking behind the mountains. The team was already tired because of the tenacious ten days, but they decided to keep going on until they found a safe spot. The Land of Rivers wasn't much populated, with only Tanigakure and a few civilian villages holding all the populace. There were less shinobi as a result, but they were not to be underestimated. Though the Shinobi of Tanigakure lacked in quantity, they were as strong as the Shinobi of Five Great Nations. The team definitely didn't wanted to come in contact with them, and hence were staying at the bottommost part of the country.

XXXXX

"I'm almost out of chakra…"

"Hang in Kisuke-san. We can surely find a few caves in those mountains" said Haku.

The team rushed to a nearby small range of mountains. After reaching them, climbing the mountain was no Herculean task, and as expected, they did found a small cave inhabited by a bear. The animal was taken out quickly by a few senbons, and thus the team secured themselves a temporary hideout.

"Tayuya, place the usual Genjutsu on the entrance" said Naruto. She nodded, walked towards the entrance, faced the cave and started going through the hand-signs faster than before.

"False Surroundings Technique!" and the entrance lit a dim yellow for a few moments before returning to normal.

"Thanks Tayuya" she nodded and sat down, panting a little because of chakra exhaustion.

"Now that it's done, Kisuke, why don't you gather some wood and get a fire going?" said the Leader.

"Yeah…" and he went out to get the required material

"Come on Haku…we gotta go hunting" Haku nodded and followed Naruto.

Later that night, they had a decent meal and a quiet sleep. From the next day, the team started their one month long training. Naruto worked on making a faster Rasengan using one hand and his 'Wind Style: Great Breakthrough'. Haku trained in Taijutsu and breaking Genjutsu and a few already known Ninjutsus. Tayuya worked extensively on Taijutsu and a little on Genjutsu. She came to know about her affinity, which was Earth. Out of Kakashi's scroll, she found out an easy Earth style Ninjutsu and started working on it. Kisuke also found out about his Fire affinity. He too searched Kakashi's scroll and started working on a couple of easy Fire style Ninjutsus. Also, all of them did the basic Taijutsu and Chakra training.

 **One Month Later (Noon):-**

"Ready team?" inquired Naruto

"Yup"

"Yes"

"Let's go" came three distinct voices.

They were already at the shore after crossing the Country of Rivers. Instead of taking the long path from the Fire Country, they decided to take the short-cut from crossing the sea. Tayuya had already placed a strong Genjutsu on them, to let them travel safely since some people may recognise a Henge. They were boarding a public ship, along with a few civilians to cross the sea. As soon as the ship departed,

"N-Naruto…"

"Yes Tayuya?"

"I…do-don't f-feel good-" without completing her sentence, Tayuya immediately ran to the side of the ship and began vomiting.

"You okay Tayuya?" inquired Naruto

"I didn't think you would be this prone to sea-sickness" said Kisuke.

She nodded weakly and gained her footing.

"Let's take her to the cabins" said Haku and gave Tayuya a shoulder support.

The guys nodded and followed his example. They all went to the allocated room to get some rest. They all had bought a single room for the four of them. The rooms were expensive, and neither of them had a fortune. The only way they afforded it was by taking the money from the missing-nins they beat in the Wind Country. They were running out of their ninja and medical supplies. Clothes and food were not a problem, since they stole it but they seriously needed some funds for the long run. Putting all their problems aside, they took a quick nap.

They woke up later in the evening, so much for a quick nap. Their ship was due to arrive two days later in the evening. There was nothing much to do. Since their alias were civilians, they couldn't train or have a quick spar. Tayuya was still in her bed, she couldn't risk coming outside. It looked like it'll be a memorable journey for her. The boat had a system according to which the passengers could catch their own fish and request the cook to cook it to them for the meal. Otherwise, they could also use the ship's fish stocks. The former method was cheap while the latter was expensive. Since the team couldn't afford any more expenses, the guys tried a hand at fishing. The sport wasn't boring, with a little dose of excitement from time to time. With their catches combined, they caught a total of six fishes of moderate size. They took them to the kitchen and requested for a simple dish. Later, with the dish prepared, the trio took it to their room, woke up Tayuya and had a satisfying meal. The night too went smooth.

The following day, the team, except Tayuya, were at the deck having a light conversation "But let me tell you, Land of Water has the best food-" Kisuke was interrupted when Naruto raised a hand,

"Do you guys hear it?"

"Hear what Leader?" asked Haku

"Maybe…I just heard a whizzing sound…it was like the sound of a-" just then, there was a blast of water, caused by an explosion which rocked the whole ship. The people struggled to stabilize themselves. The passengers were surprised, and amidst the crowd came a voice "Cannons! We have been attacked!"

' _Shit! Just as I thought! Why can't we have a normal journey for once?!'_ Naruto looked around and saw a ship at a small distance, which had strangely came close to them without anyone noticing.

It was a big ship, several times bigger than theirs, and looked battle ready. There were several cannons aimed towards them. Naruto looked closer and saw a flag swirling in the wind. It was black in colour, endowed with skull and bones. Haku and Kisuke saw the flag too, and they all reached to the same conclusion almost simultaneously,

"Pirates?!" and panic overwhelmed the whole ship.

XXXXX

The pirates' ship was fast. It quickly covered the distance between the two ships. On the other hand, their ship being a passenger one wasn't fast enough to get away. All the people could do was watch the attackers' ship get closer. When the ship was in a hearing range, all the pirates which weren't visible before climbed onto the railings with weapons ready and with a smirk on their faces.

"Heh heh heh…looks like it's your bad luck that you met with us heh." Came a heavy voice, the origin of which stepped up. He was a large man, easily crossing the six-foot margin.

"Now, if you'll hand down all the money you all have, I might spare your pathetic lives" he smiled grimly.

The innocent passengers were strangely trembling. Naruto immediately recognized the feeling. The man was letting loose killer intent; he was a shinobi! He glanced at Haku. Haku closed his eyes, and after a few moments, he mumbled,

"Easily Jounin…" Kisuke started sweating and Naruto tightened his fists. There was no way they could beat this guy, so they decided to take the second best choice; they decided to run.

The pirate captain took out a katana strapped to his waist. He raised and commanded,

"Now my men, charge!" The pirates used ropes and ladders to get on the ship.

"Naruto-sama, I can sense some shinobi among them, possibly Chunins." Informed Haku

"They are strong!" said Kisuke

"Yeah, it's good that the Genjutsu is marking our chakra. We can't fight them, let's just focus on running" they all nodded.

Meanwhile, the pirates boarded their ship, and were looting the passengers. Being at the opposite corner from the pirates, the team had some time to act.

The trio looked at each other, and strangely they understood what they had to do. With a firm nod, they all rushed to their task. Kisuke immediately ran to their allocated room, pretty sure that Tayuya was already awake and ready. He immediately opened the door, to find her packing her backpack. She looked at him, as if expecting an answer,

"It's the pirates" he answered.

She nodded and wore her backpack. Tayuya picked up Kisuke's and Naruto's backpack and tossed it at Kisuke,

"I already packed them. Let's hurry" he nodded. She picked up Haku's backpack and they made their way to regroup.

Haku was rushing towards the Captain's room. He could hear some voices from the cabin. He increased his speed, hoping that there still was someone steering the ship. Upon reaching the door, he pressed his ear against it,

"That asshole, he thought he could fight against us"

"That old fart thought he could save the ship"

"Relax guys, whatever, he is dead now. Just as the Captain ordered, we killed this ship's captain. Let's report back now"

It was just as Haku predicted, it seemed the ship's captain was dead, he was too late. From the voices, Haku could make out three people. He readied his senbons and hastily opened the door. His targets were shocked, and in the midst of surprise, Haku expertly threw the senbons. Each of them hit right on mark. With the senbons deep in their necks, the pirates fell down dead. Haku hurried to the captain, who was an old man in his late fifties. He knelt down and checked for pulse, but he couldn't find any. With a sigh, Haku left the room and hurried to the deck to regroup.

Naruto was on the deck, waiting for his teammates to arrive and thinking for a plan to escape safely. They couldn't risk using any jutsu or chakra, but they had to use some to walk on water. He just hoped that the pirates' captain wasn't too good to notice the slight chakra release from them while walking on water. Just then, he saw Kisuke and Tayuya with their stuff. Kisuke threw the blonde his backpack,

"What's the plan Naruto?" asked the redhead

"Nothing solid. There's no land within sight, and we can't just run around in open ocean-" Naruto was interrupted by Haku who came running towards them,

"It's too late, the Captain's dead" he declared. They all sighed. It was their last hope. If by some chance their ship managed to get away, there was no one to steer it. The only option left was to abandon the ship.

"Alright then, as I was saying" whispered Naruto,

"There's no land within sight, and we can't just run around in open ocean. There's only one thing I could think of, but I'm not relying on that. Do you guys have any solid plans?"

His teammates shook their head in negative. They all looked slightly worried, they had already guessed Naruto's plan.

"That leaves only one thing we can do…sneak in the pirates' ship" they face-palmed, it was exactly what they guessed, but in these circumstances, there was nothing more to do. They all decided to go along with Naruto's plan, use as minimum chakra as possible and use no jutsu until they are spotted, which they prayed they wouldn't.

Naruto and the others stealthily made their way to the back of their ship. They looked around, and when sure no one was looking, all of them jumped into the ocean. They used their chakra to walk on water and with speed only a ninja could master, they ran towards the pirate ship. As soon as they reached the pirate ship, they decided to stick close to the side to avoid being spotted. They made their way to the back of the ship and once again used chakra to climb up the ship. Seeing only a few persons on board, Tayuya quickly casted the 'False Surroundings Jutsu' and they became hidden from watchful eyes. With Haku in lead, him being a stealth expert, they all made their way to the entrance to the hull.

Once they reached the stairs, stealthily they climbed down. The ship was big, and there wasn't much light as the entered the base of the ship. Slowly, they kept going towards the end. Their aim was to reach to the very end, so that they cannot be seen by the pirates. Using genjutsu the whole time was not an option. Suddenly, they heard a grunt, which was surely of a person in pain. The team's senses perked up, something was going on. Trusting the genjutsu they were hidden in, the team made their way forward hastily. It was enough time for their eyes to adjust in the darkness. Haku gave them a nod, alerting them that a person was up ahead. Haku took out and senbons, and the rest got their kunais ready, though they were certain that an average person will not be able to see through their genjutsu. After moving a few steps forward, they could make out a figure standing. They continued advancing nonetheless. After a short time, the person was only a few metres ahead of them. At this distance, the team could figure out that the person was girl, probably a teenager like them. They could also see a sword strapped on her waist. Near her was lying the corpse of a man, who was probably a pirate.

"Sheesh…this guy didn't even had a bounty on his head." The girl rambled to herself.

"It's no good, the Captain's too strong…if these guys hadn't attacked the ship-" she suddenly stopped and stared towards where the team was standing.

' _No way. She can't sense us, she's just an ordinary civilian!...isn't she'_ Tayuya thought.

The girl tensed and grabbed the hilt of her sword.

"I know you're there!" she said "Come out!"

They all looked at each other. Was she a shinobi? Kisuke stared at her for a few more seconds. Suddenly he whispered,

"I remember!" they all looked at him expectantly.

"She has the same green eyes! She was with us on that civilian ship" he replied.

"Tayuya-san, end the genjutsu, it's meaningless. Looks like we were not the only one hiding ourselves" said Haku.

Tayuya nodded and made a single hand-seal to release her jutsu. The jutsu wore off and all the persons present went immediately on guard with their weapons ready.

"Weren't you guys on the ship? So you were hiding…what do you want from me?!" the girl said

"What about you?" said Naruto "You are a shinobi too"

"No, you're mistaken. I'm a samurai…well at least technically, and I'm a tea trader" the girl replied.

The team members had mixed reactions.

"Then how did you sense my genjutsu?" Tayuya asked.

"I can sense chakra. Don't be mistaken, though samurai don't use chakra like you shinobi, they do use it in their Kenjutsu and they can sense chakra like you guys, though they're not as good in sensing chakra as shinobi" she explained.

Seeing that she was friendlier than before, Naruto took a step forward. The teen hastily drew her sword, and at the same moment, the other team members drew their respective weapons. Just as the girl closed her sword at Naruto's neck, Haku sped up and got behind her. He grabbed her left hand, twisted it and touched his senbon on her neck. At the same time, Kisuke took out a kunai and he too kept it at her neck, while Tayuya jumped back and kept her flute close to her mouth. After a few moments, realising the pinch she was in, the girl cursed and re-sheathed her sword.

' _They're fast'_ she thought _'The blonde one seems like the leader'_

"Now" Naruto said "What's your name?"

"Why should I tell you?" the girl replied

"It's your choice, we aren't afraid of killing anyone" Naruto said.

Naruto let loose some killer intent. He had practised to use killer intent, though his killer intent wasn't much, it still had impact. The girl glanced at them all and then felt killer intent from Naruto.

' _They're serious'_ she concluded.

"All right, my name is Emi. I'm a tea trader and a part time bounty hunter".

Now that, surprised them all.

 **AN:** Hey, this is to all those experienced writers out there reading my fic and dear readers, since I'm not much experienced as an author, it would be great if some of you gave me tips regarding the fic and point out my mistakes, either a plot-hole or grammatical mistakes or any mistakes of that sort. I'll be grateful for your help.

This chapter is a little short, but I just couldn't help it. It felt right to end it there.

As you know, Tayuya and Kisuke joined the group with secondary intentions. They are not fools who'll tag along with anyone that invites them. If you don't remember, check out 'Chapter – 2' and 'Chapter – 3' for more info.

If you find any mistakes or plot-holes, feel free to correct me. REVIEW!

That's all I had to say, smell ya later!


	5. Chapter 5 : Welcome aboard!

**CHAPTER – 5**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Anime.

 **AN:** Thank you all those who showed their appreciation, it compels me to make it better and keep on writing.

Sorry for the long absence, but my mid-term exams were going on. I really had no time.

Please review. I'm just a humble author who likes to see others enjoying my work.

All the OCs that I use belongs to 'Scarease'. Any OC that will be my original will be mentioned. Thanks to him for the excellent OCs.

"Talking"

' _Thinking'_

'Flashback'

"A tea trader and a bounty hunter!?" Kisuke asked astonishingly.

"Bounty helps with the funds" she nodded.

"Look, right now, we all want to escape from these pirates, and strangely enough, our plans happen to be the same. So, how about a truce?" Naruto suggested. Emi thought for a second, then nodded. Her relaxed body personified her thoughts. They'll withdrew the weapons and relaxed as well.

They all settled down in their own deep thought.

"So Emi, where are you from?" Kisuke said, striking a conversation. She looked at him,

"My name is all you need to know about me. I'm not telling you anything" she said, getting a little aggressive at the end.

"Sure" Kisuke said, waving his hands. "We don't need two hot-tempered women in here…" he mumbled to himself. After getting two glares, he quieted down.

The pirate ship set sail after a short time. None of them knew where they were headed. The only goal was to wait for the ship to reach the land and get off as soon as possible.

 **Two days later:-**

In two days, Emi's status had gone from offensive to neutral. She had told them that she was an orphan and she had trained under a Ronin. She didn't let anything other than that slip.

Emi was about the same age as Haku with unique blue-green hair tied in a ponytail. She carried a katana and her outfit was black, body-hugging top and slim black pants, completed with black boots. She seemed to like black a lot.

"Man, we're lucky that the food stocks are at the hull." Tayuya said, finishing her meal. The team mumbled in approval. Emi nodded.

Staying a couple of days with them made her more comfortable with them than before. She admitted that they were a nice company, but didn't drop her guard for a second. She couldn't just trust shinobi very much.

They were all in an after-meal relaxed state, when the ship rocked abruptly and stopped.

"They dropped anchor" Tayuya clarified.

"Did we already reached a land" Kisuke asked.

"Don't come to conclusions yet, they may have targeted another ship or something else" said Haku.

Naruto walked towards the hull entrance and lifted off the trap-door a little. He could see the deck a little. There seemed to be chaos. Several pirates were surrounding the Captain, while he was yelling at them.

"Where are they!?" the Captain yelled.

"W-Who?" said one of his boys.

"Those fucking shinobi! They were hiding in the ship and you didn't know!?" he said angrily.

Naruto's eyes widened. They had been found.

Suddenly, the Captain's eyes met Naruto's.

"There's the bastard!" he pointed towards Naruto.

"Fuck" Naruto mumbled and closed the door.

"Run! We have been found!" he shouted to his teammates. Hastily they all nodded and got up with their backpacks.

"Smash the hull!" Naruto shouted. He had a plan.

Naruto formed a Rasengan and blew up a wall. Water rapidly flooded in. Seeing his example all of them did the same. Using the water, Haku for a Water Dragon and begun smashing the hull to pieces. Tayuya summoned her demons and did the same. Kisuke used explosive notes and Emi, she began cutting the pirates that were coming down through the trap door.

Soon, all that was left of the hull was just rubble. The team managed to escape through the holes and swam up to the surface. The ship began to rapidly drown.

They all used chakra to run on water and with all the speed they could muster, they began to run away from the drowning ship. Emi too began to swim.

The land could be seen, but it was still too far away to reach just by swimming. But that idea didn't came into her mind. All she thought for now was to somehow get away from the ship.

Suddenly, the water they were on began to shake. They heard a roar and the mass of water they were on turned into a Water Dragon. The Dragon rose high, engulfing all of them in his body. He roared once again and smashed all of them on the deck of the sinking ship, dissolving himself in the process.

Though in pain, the team and Emi managed to get up. In front of them was the pirate Captain.

"You brats thought you can get away, huh!?" he shouted.

"After all you did, I'll kill you'll myself!" he yelled. His fellow pirates roared and took out their weapons. They charged at Naruto and others, while the Captain began making some hand-seals.

Out of anymore options, the team, including Emi decided to fight. They all began making hand-seals, except Emi, who unsheathed her sword.

Tayuya summoned her demons, which immediately brought wrath to the pirates. She decided to leave the boss to the others.

Kisuke yelled "Fire style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" and began annihilating the pirates, deciding to leave the Captain to the others.

Naruto ran straight to the Captain, and Haku threw a few senbons towards him.

Deciding to engage him in a close-combat, Naruto took out his kunai and slashed him. The Captain cursed, being disturbed in the middle of his ninjutsu. He ducked under Naruto's slash and caught his dominating arm. Seeing a few senbons coming, the Captain flung Naruto towards the senbons.

Being unable to do anything, Naruto was forced to take the senbon attack. The senbons sunk deep into his flesh, and at the same moment, he popped out of existence. The Captain's eyes widened for a second.

' _A Shadow Clone!'_ he thought. His surprise faded immediately and he smirked.

' _Now this would be a lot of fun'_ he thought.

The real Naruto cursed. He looked at Haku. They both nodded and ran towards the Captain.

Emi reached him before they could and began attacking the Captain with her sword. He skilfully dodged her strikes and took out his kunai. Immediately after, he began parrying her strikes while smirking.

Emi cursed and jumped back a little. She held her blade horizontally at the top of her head.

"Try to parry this! Wind Dancing Blade: Signum Cuts!" she shouted and the blade glowed. She swung her swords wildly, producing a sharp wind aligning with the swing after each swing.

' _Ooh, a samurai…'_ the captain thought.

The sharp wind cuts flew towards him, who was already making a few hand signs.

"Water style: Barrier" he said and the water from the ocean flew between Emi and him, effectively absorbing the sharp wind cuts. Smirking, he changed his hand seal.

"Water style: Water whips" he said and the water wall changed its shape and formed two whips a few metres long. The Captain clutched the whips and began attacking Emi.

She tried to cut the whips, but they had chakra infused in them. Forcefully, after getting hit a few times, she had to fall back.

Naruto and Haku swiftly joined her side. They all decided to engage him together. Naruto formed two scores of Shadow Clones. Half of them ran towards Kisuke and Tayuya to help them fight the other pirates.

Haku began by for a Water Dragon. The opponent did the same, but the difference was the size. The Captain's Water Dragon was at least thrice the size of Haku's. Haku attacked nonetheless, backed up by the projectile throwing Naruto clones.

Naruto clones were continuously throwing kunai and shuriken and after every few seconds, a random clone used 'Wind Style: Daitoppa" to exponentially increase the projectiles' speed and power.

The opponent was formidable. He expertly piloted his Water Dragon to deflect all projectiles, but one of them found its mark. A shuriken imbedded deep in his left shoulder, cutting the tendon and making the entire arm useless.

He howled in pain and with extreme difficulty, steered the Water Dragon towards the group.

The Dragon growled and with full force attacked them. Luckily, the dragon dissipated at the last moment, saving them from any fatal injury. But the extreme force of water was still alarmingly high, which popped all the clones and threw the trio into the ocean.

After a few seconds, Naruto, Haku and Emi climbed up on the ship again. The Captain was already waiting with his katana drawn out.

Emi's eyes widened,

' _That's one awesome katana'_ she thought.

' _The Tsuka (hilt), Kissaki (Tip), Tsuba (Guard)…they're all well-made'_ she admired internally.

' _I'm taking that sword!'_ she thought and charged along with Naruto and Haku. They were all damaged and hurting here and there because of the Dragon, but taking on a Jounin in a pure Taijutsu fight was no joke, even if he didn't had an arm.

With his dominant arm, the Captain swung his sword expertly, making offence and defence at the same time. Though Naruto, Haku and Emi were attacking simultaneously, they were still having problem in even touching the man.

Finally, Naruto fell back and used a 'Wind Style: Daitoppa', making the Captain lose his balance for a moment. This moment was all they needed. Haku prepared to throw a senbon at his neck. Seeing his intentions, Emi tried to parry the Captain's horizontal swing.

She successfully blocked the strike, but the difference in power was simply too much. With raw power, the Captain lifted off the blocking Emi from the ground. Utterly surprised, she lost her block and the sword immediately cut her on the left bicep. Before the sword could reach her chest, out of instinct she jumped back, avoiding a fatal injury.

Haku successfully threw the senbon before the sword reached him, but didn't manage to get out of the strike range. The sword reached his abdomen, but he too out of instinct jumped of the way. He was still cut, but it was a minor wound.

The Captain fell back in a slum and lost consciousness.

Haku grasped his wound to apply pressure and reduce the bleeding. Emi however, walked over to the fallen Captain and gripped his hairs. She forcefully lifted him off and with a swift, precise cut, severed the head off the body.

The site was menacing, with her holding the head, which was still twitching and spilling blood. She glanced at others. Naruto and Haku were shocked. Tayuya and Kisuke just finished up with the remaining pirates and were in the same state as the other two.

"What!? I'm a Bounty Hunter after all" she defended. Emi took out a sealing scroll and quickly sealed up the head.

The water flooded in the deck and they were reminded that they were still on a drowning ship.

None of them were particularly low on chakra or injured seriously, which was rather surprising. Fighting of a Jounin and killing him with almost no setbacks was not what they expected. All of them had at least a few injured bones, but this had been too easy.

On their part, Tayuya and Kisuke too fought with a couple Chunins, but they were beaten rather easily. The explanation to all this was that the ninja-pirates had been out to the sea for a long time and had robbed no one except civilians.

No training or no notable fights had in fact made their senses and reflexes dull, which had lead to their death. If the Captain would still had been an active Jounin, there was no telling what would have happened.

As the water flooded in, on by one, all the team members jumped onto the water, began to efficiently use chakra to run on water.

Emi quickly grabbed the fallen Captain's katana and strapped it on her waist. She was about to jump in water when the reality dawned upon her. The island was too far off to reach by swimming. She was a little exhausted and hurting, and on top of that, she wasn't an ace swimmer. It would be a suicide. She couldn't take a risk like that in any condition. Emi glanced around for a means to escape.

Unfortunately, there were none.

' _Shit! There's not even a row boat. Why the fuck they don't have a boat on a ship!'_ she cursed to herself. The ship was rapidly drowning with no means for her to escape. Despite all lost hope, she began going through all the things she could do.

Just as she was thinking, she heard a voice,

"Want us to help you?" she looked towards the source to find Naruto standing on the flooded deck, asking her cheerfully.

"No!" she replied instantaneously. He raised his eyebrows, "Why not?" he asked. "If we don't, you will die in here" he said, as if it was a universal truth. Emi visibly grew angry at the statement,

"Even though I might not look like it, but I'm still a proud samurai; a warrior. I won't accept any more help from your team. Helping me with killing the Captain was more than enough. Anymore, and it'll stain my honour as a samurai!" she finished.

Naruto looked a little worried. "Is your honour more important to you than your life?" he asked. "As a samurai, definitely" she answered.

"I don't care about your honour. I don't want my comrade to die if I can prevent it in any way" he stated.

"Who says I'm your comrade!?" Emi yelled. "We just fought a battle together, doesn't that make us comrades?" he asked. "No, it doesn't" she said forcefully.

Naruto nodded, "If that doesn't, I know what does" he mumbled and locked eyes with her,

"Join me" he said calmly.

"What?" she asked, surprised. _'Is that how he recruits!?'_ she wondered.

"Join me and my team" he repeated. "Are you dumb?" she replied. "Do you think that anyone you barely know would join you if you want?" she said. Naruto shook his head in negative, "Not anyone I barely know" he said "I know you well, very well in fact"

Emi was shocked. _'What the fuck is he saying!?'_ but he said it with such confidence and maturity, it almost made her believe what he said to be true. There was a strange aura, but she couldn't recognised it.

"Are you senile!? I didn't tell you anything about me!" she stated it as a fact. Naruto nodded, "You didn't but your eyes did" he said. Emi was taken aback. He continued "You're just like the rest of us. It's your past, isn't it?" he said. She hastily closed her eyes. Her past brought out some very bad memories.

"Your eyes, they're lonely and cold. You're... shunned by the society aren't you?" he stated more than asked. Emi was shell-shocked, she wasn't expecting this. She looked at him. _'This guy…just like the rest of us he said…is he like me? Is he an outcast too?'_ she pondered.

"I don't need to say anymore" he said "sorry for bringing up bad memories. I understand that you don't want to join my team. That's okay. Good luck in surviving" he said and jumped off to the ocean, leaving her alone once more.

Emi was stunned. She finally recognised the mysterious aura.

It was the aura of a legend, the aura of a born leader, the aura of a divine personality. It may sound like she was exaggerating, but it was truly what she felt. But she couldn't dwell on that now.

He had made his offer and she had declined. She didn't forget that she was a samurai and her pride comes first, even if the Kami-sama himself comes to request. She would only, truly and faithfully follow the person she herself chooses to.

And Naruto…he couldn't be the person, could he? Nope, not a chance…but maybe, it would have been possible. She should have given more thought to the offer, but it doesn't matter now. Right now, she had to survive. She picked up a large piece of wood, about two by one metres in dimension. Along with it, gathering all her will, she jumped on the ocean.

The sea was rough. She was splashed by waves time and again. Somehow she balanced herself. She held the wood with her arms, and using her legs to throttle, Emi started moving forward using all her might. After an hour, she had crossed about one fourth of the path, but strangely the sea had gotten rougher. The wood plank helped her float and rest. She was resting, holding the plank when her senses alarmed her. She looked forward, and saw a giant wave headed towards her.

She was almost out of gas. Her legs were going numb and her arms loosened around the wood. The violent wave would have been enough to scare any other person, but she was a samurai, and she will fight till the last breadth. Emi gave a battle cry and used all her strength to grip the plank as firmly as she could.

The wave hit hard. She was thrown away by the force of nature, but she didn't let loose the plank. Along with the wood, she went underwater.

The moment the wave had hit, she had realised that it wasn't going to be a happy ending.

As she went deep in the water, her grip began to loose. Finally, her willpower was overcame and the plank left her deep in the ocean. Running out of breath, her body instinctively opened her mouth. The water deliberately entered her body.

As the water flooded her lungs, she started losing sight and began to drift into unconsciousness. There was a strange peace. All Emi wanted was to close her eyes and sleep.

' _Fuck! What am I thinking!? I can't die in here!'_ she encouraged herself. She started moving her arms and legs, desperately splashing underwater. She once again realised her struggles were in vain. She was already too deep in water. The past flooded her mind.

Memories; bad memories. Those which she wanted to forget. . The faces of her parents, faces of those people who beat her, tortured her mentally, and sometimes physically. The orphanage she was in. The village in which she was born at; Hoshigakure. And finally, the face of an old man.

"Old man…" she mumbled in pain.

She was just about to loose consciousness when she felt someone grip her hand. She looked at the face. It seemed familiar. But before the memory could her, she was unconscious.

Naruto was standing on the ocean. He was waiting. He had watched that wave, and he had watched Emi in the middle of that assault. He couldn't help it, it was his nature. He just couldn't let a comrade die. A few metres ahead of him, there was a splash and Haku came out of the water, bringing along Emi.

"She's alive, but it's critical" Haku said. Naruto nodded. With a hand-seal, three shadow clones come to life. He looked at Tayuya, she nodded and picked up Emi. She had read a book or two about how the human body worked. She couldn't use the med-ninjutsu in the least, but she could at least give her a quick check-up. Tayuya did a fireman's carry and held her firmly. She nodded back at Naruto, who in turn made a few hand seals.

Tayuya jumped upwards with all her might. When she was at the top of her trajectory, all four Naruto executed a 'Wind Style: Daitoppa' at the same time towards Tayuya and Emi. They made the wave as broad as they could, to avoid injury.

As she was hit by the simultaneous waves, the enormous force threw her forward with severe speed. She had already braced herself for the impact, so it only hurt her at minimal. Now, all she had to worry about was the landing…

This mode of transportation, though dangerous, was extremely fast. Naruto expected the girls to cross at least half path in the single jump. Fortunately and by extreme luck, Tayuya landed well and started to cross the remaining path. She had to hurry.

' _Fuck! Don't die on me'_ she thought and increased her speed.

By the time Naruto, Haku and Kisuke reached the island, Emi was peacefully lying on her back.

Tayuya was beside her and a small fire was already lit. "You guys reached fairly fast" Haku commented. Tayuya nodded, then glared at Naruto "I'm never doing that again" she said intimidatingly. Naruto shot his hands up "Hey, it was an emergency." He said "The next, I won't give a fuck. Do you even know how I landed!" she replied.

"Did you give her mouth to mouth!?" Kisuke butted in enthusiastically. After a dose of killer intent, he fell back. "So, how is she?" Haku asked. The redhead nodded "She is fine. She'll wake up after some time I think" she answered. "Looks like you handled your first patient rather well" Haku said, smiling. Tayuya nodded and smiled "I think so."

"Alright team!" Naruto said "Get ready, we're making a camp here! Start on your chores everyone!"

"What a pain in the ass" Tayuya mumbled. "I can't do it. I'm too tired" Kisuke declared and sat down on the sandy beach. "Why don't you do something for a change?" Tayuya said. Naruto sweated "You mean I should do everything don't you?" Tayuya nodded. "But I'm tired too!" Naruto whined. "It's okay. A team always depends on its leader" Tayuya said "Yeah, and you're out leader, aren't you" Kisuke said, joining forces with her. Naruto looked at Haku, who merely shrugged "You do have a monster stamina" he said. "Fine" Naruto said and made ten shadow clones, who immediately left to complete their respective tasks.

"Now that's what I was talking about" Tayuya said.

The clones finished bringing up the wood and went hunting. Haku and Kisuke were roaming around, trying to figure out where they exactly are. Currently, they were on the beach on an unknown land. At the edge of the beach, the forest started. From the looks of it, it looked like a continent rather than an island. From the direction they were travelling in, they had an idea where exactly they were. There was fog all around, which only confirmed the suspicion.

At this time, being in the Land of Water was the worst case scenario. The whole land, especially Kirigakure were engrossed in an exceptional Civil War. If they were caught by any side of the war, their death was inevitable. Not only both the sides were strong, the ninjas of Kirigakure are known to be exceptionally fierce. Haku had faced it first-hand and Naruto had fought Zabuza, who was a Kiri-nin to the core.

They camped up at the middle of the forest, in a clearing they had found. Tayuya carefully enclosed the whole clearing in her 'False Surrounding Technique'. They all decided to stay here and prepare for the worst case scenario. They may have defeated a retired Jounin, but fighting an active one is on a whole new level. It was decided that they will stay here for atleast a few months. They will train harder than before and in that time, they will invest their free time to build a boat. As soon as the boat is finished, they will get the hell out of here as soon as possible.

At least that's what the plan was. They just hoped they don't come across a Kiri-nin while escaping, and that's why they were training so hard.

Emi woke up the next day.

When she opened her eyes, she could see something red. Soon, she made out that it was someone's hair. She heard the person shout "She's awake!"

Slowly, she got up. Her head was throbbing and her lungs were hurting. _'It hurts…to breathe. That's right!'_ she realised _'I was drowning…and then someone saved me'_ She once again looked at the redhead "Tayuya!?" she asked surprisingly. Tayuya smiled "Long time no see" she said.

"Did you save me!?" Tayuya shook her head in negative. Before she could answer, Emi shouted "Where's Naruto!?" Tayuya whistled "Is that what a girl asks when she wakes up?" she teased her. "This is serious!?" Emi shouted back "Where is he!?"

"I'm here" a voice came. Emi turned her head to the side to find Naruto and the others standing there "Did you save me!?" she yelled. "Nope, it was him" Naruto pointed towards Haku.

"Why!?" Emi said to Haku. "Couldn't be helped Emi-san. Leader's order" he replied back. Emi stood up on her feet. "Hey! You should rest!" Tayuya said, but Emi rushed towards Naruto.

She pushed him, hard. Naruto somehow managed to stay up. "Why the fuck did you save me!? I'm samurai dammit! I have my own pride! You just can't do anything you want! Who the fuck do you think you are!?" she shouted relentlessly. Silence reigned the clearing. Naruto had lowered his head and Emi was staring at him. Naruto looked up, and locked eyes. "Your comrade" he replied.

Emi was speechless. She felt that aura all over again. The same aura she felt at that time. She sat down on her knees. She looked at everyone else's face. They all smiled at her. She realised it. There really were people who accepted her as who she was. The old man had said,

'Don't worry. You will find people who will accept you as you are. You will find your own comrades'

Tears began rolling down her cheeks, _'Fuck! I'm a samurai! Don't cry!'_ She got up and said "Naruto. Can you ask me again? What you asked me at the ship" Naruto smiled "Will you join me and my team?" Naruto said.

Emi grinned and nodded "Sure!" she said. "Great. Welcome aboard" Haku said and everyone else cheered.

 **AN:** If you find any mistakes or plot-holes, feel free to correct me.

Smell ya later!


	6. Chapter 6 : The Rebels

**CHAPTER – 6**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Anime.

 **AN:** Thank you all those who showed their appreciation, it compels me to make it better and keep on writing.

Sorry for the long absence, I really had no time. Trust me, I got reasons.

Please review. I'm just a humble author who likes to see others enjoying my work.

All the OCs that I use belongs to 'Scarease'. Any OC that will be my original will be mentioned. Thanks to him for the excellent OCs.

"Talking"

' _Thinking'_

'Flashback'

It was night and Tayuya was the lone person awake. Her patience was finally brought to fruition. She could no longer stay with the team, or else she would forget her original venture; money.

This was her last chance to grab all the money she can and run away. It was a good chance, since the group's savings were around seven thousand ryo. She had no idea how she would cross the ocean, but she will do it tonight.

Tayuya stealthily slipped past the sleeping forms of everyone and got to Naruto. On his waist, a scroll was fastened which Tayuya had to steal. Slowly she grabbed the scroll and began to pull it out of the holster. This scroll had almost the entire money savings of the team. From the start, it had been her objective to steal all the money she could get her hands on and run away.

The scroll almost came loose. Just to be sure, she glanced at Naruto's face. To her shock, Naruto's eyes were open and he was wide awake. Tayuya's mouth went agape and she dropped the scroll which came loose. "You should have used a genjutsu. You woke me up" he said.

In a few moments, she recovered from the blow "L-Listen N-Naruto, I can explain" she said desperately "What? There's no explaining it" the blonde stood up. She looked at him, at his eyes, which held pure disbelief and disappointment.

She was struck by fear, which came from disappointing him _'Why am I upset? I shouldn't care about him…I just need the money…kill your emotions!'_ she desperately yelled in her head "Not feeling sleepy, right? It happens to me a lot of times." Naruto said "You thought of counting the team's savings, since Emi added her share recently, and you thought that you will get sleepy while counting, right?" picked up the scroll and tossed it at her.

She was dumbstruck by his actions.

"Here" he said "I counted it a few days ago. There were six thousand five hundred ryo. Emi deposited her money after that. I'll be getting some sleep" with that, he lied down without any worries. Tayuya was utterly shocked. She looked back and forth between Naruto and the scroll. _'This guy…'_ she thought _'He didn't doubted me for even a second! He thought I was taking the money to count it…even for a second…he didn't thought I was betraying him or the team…'_

Naruto's words rang in her mouth 'We are comrades!' he often said. The memories of her time with the team flooded her. All the bonds she had created, all the friends she had made, all the comrades she had…she was willing to break all the bonds over money? She had been wrong. This was a bad decision, maybe the worst decision of her life. Moreover, Naruto was family; a family she never had, a family she finally got. Not only him, the whole team was her family. She was about to turn her back at the only family she had. She had been so wrong.

All these thought welled up in her mind. After a few seconds, she broke. Her eyes became watery and she ran out of the cave. She ran towards the forest and climbed up on a tree. Finally, she let her emotions flow. Tears began flowing and she sulked. The whole night, she thought about what she would do and came to a conclusion; she would try to protect her dear ones i.e. her family; her team. It was the only way to get over the regret and to repay the debt she owned them.

She made her way back to the cave. It was morning already and everyone was up. She went straight to Naruto, who was stretching his arms, being woken up recently. He looked at her and she tossed him the scroll back "How much is it?" he asked "I didn't count it." she answered. Naruto looked at him, expecting an answer "I began feeling sleepy. I didn't get a chance to go count" he shrugged and pocketed the scroll.

 **A month later:**

The team was doing the usual training. Naruto and Haku were sparring on water, while Tayuya and Kisuke were doing genjutsu and ninjutsu training respectively. Emi was doing the water walking.

Early in the month, when Haku had checked Emi's chakra reserves, it turned out to be quite low, which was quite obvious. So, just like Tayuya, she was advised to do chakra training. Tayuya's reserves had grown significantly in comparison to her old self; inspired by which Emi learned and started practicing chakra training.

Suddenly, a sharp sound was heard and a kunai came whistling towards Kisuke, who parried it with one of his own. The team immediately went on alert and regrouped.

'Shit! We are found" scowled Tayuya. "Must be the rebels" Haku stated.

The group had done the research and they knew that the Water Country was going through an intense Civil War.

A man jumped out of the shadowy trees. "Who are you brats?" he yelled. The man had seen the reflex of one of them and had seen them all training. He assumed they were mid-Chunin level missing ninjas, since none of them wore a hitai-ite. Still, one can never be too cautious. There was still a chance that they could be enemy spies.

The man was a Rebel Commander, the second highest post among the rebels, and he knew he wasn't a fool. He didn't make the mistake of underestimating them, even though he was an exceptional Jounin himself; and so he had bought a small battalion.

With his sensory skills, Haku hastily checked the area around the clearing.

"How many?" Emi asked. "A dozen" Haku replied stiffly. "Their skills are well above us" he clarified. Naruto gritted his teeth.

He couldn't see a way out.

If Naruto had been alone, no doubt he would have fought, no matter how hard. But it was different now. He had his team with him. What if his decision led them to mishappenings? Naruto was gradually beginning to understand the burden of being a Leader. The investment of courage and faith required for the position was simply affordable for a normal person; but Naruto was not normal in any way.

He would lead them to success.

' _It's tough, being a leader'_ taught Naruto _'Logically, no matter what; we couldn't win in any way. There's only one way I can think of…'_

"Who are you brats?!" the man asked again, this time with a bit more aggressiveness. He made sure his men were ready to attack at a moment's notice.

"We are…Team Stampede" Naruto answered.

The team looked at him puzzled. After a moment's silence, Kisuke commented "I like the name" Naruto chuckled, "I knew you would like it"

"Team Stampede?" the man asked. Naruto nodded. Suppressing his pride, he dropped his kunai "And we surrender"

Naruto could see the man was with the rebels, since his hitai-ite had a scar, and he was with obedient men. He knew the rebels wouldn't kill without a reason. If he had fought, he and his team may have been killed in combat. Surrendering was the best thing they could do in the situation.

Following their leader, Haku and Tayuya too dropped their senbons and kunai. Kisuke was puzzled, but he too let go of his kunai. Emi was itching to try her new katana in combat, but it seemed that her leader had something else on his mind. Respecting his decision, she lodged her blade along with the sheath in the soft ground.

"Smart choice" the man grunted and made a few quick hand-seals. In a second, all the members of Team Stampede fell on the ground, unconscious. His A-ranked genjutsu had worked to perfection.

The rebels in hiding came out. A few of them shackled the insentient shinobi, while others rummaged through the clearing.

"Wasn't that too much to use on such weaklings, Commander Ao?" one of them asked to the Rebel Commander. Ao snorted "You can't underestimate today's generation". After the search was complete and the knocked out shinobi properly chained, Ao signalled them to follow and they took off towards the Rebel Camp.

 **:::::**

Naruto had a heavy nausea when he woke up. He let out a grunt; being unable to resist his throbbing head. It took Naruto a few seconds to register the situation. He was lying on sheltered ground.

He sat up and looked around, observing the space around him. A few rays of sunlight managed to sneak in through the few holes in the roof to produce just enough light so as to make things faintly visible. The Fukuro noted that he was inside a large tent. _'The Rebel Camp maybe'_ he supposed. He tried pushing a little bit of chakra to his feet to test his suspicion. He wasn't able to do it. His suspicion turned true; there was a chakra suppressing seal placed somewhere on his body.

"He's awake Captain" he heard a voice. A few moments later, the door flap flipped open and a large man, followed by a moderate sized man entered the shelter. The masculine man's subordinate placed a steel chair in front of Naruto for the man to sit.

The Captain looked straight at Naruto's eyes while sitting. "Answer me genuinely boy and I promise you this will be the easiest thing you would have ever done in your life" the Captain said in a hoarse voice. Naruto assumed him to be the Interrogator.

"I'm Takehiko Higuchi. Who are you?" the man began.

"Naruto Uzumaki; missing-nin from Konoha" Naruto said.

"Who are the others? What are you all doing in the Water Country?"

"They all are missing-nins and one of them is a bounty hunter. We survived a shipwreck and got to the harbour. We were about to leave the country when you caught us" Naruto answered everything candidly. Winning the rebels' trust was his first priority.

The man raised an eyebrow at his answer. "You mean the pirate ship?" Naruto nodded.

There had been a news of an infamous pirate ship been destroyed by a group of missing-nins, but naturally, no one assumed the group to be a bunch of teens. Takehiko glanced at his subordinate, who in turn nodded. His subordinate was in fact a skilled sensor who was carefully observing Naruto's chakra, so as to notice slight change to prove that he was lying, but there was none.

Takehiko had already questioned the rest of them. All of them told the same story, none of them lied in the slightest. He was thinking what to do with them when the kid in front of him said, "I want to meet the Leader."

Takehiko's eyes widened in the slightest. "That is not possible. You and the others will leave this land and not come back again. You all are lucky to survive" he clarified.

"It's really urgent. I have something that I can only give to the leader" Naruto insisted.

"Enough of this!" the Captain snapped "I'm throwing you all off the country right now!" he began forming handsigns when Naruto shouted "I've got one of the seven blades!"

Takehiko's handsigns stopped midway, his expression a mixture of awe and dubiety. He looked towards his subordinate, who had a similar expression. He once again nodded to the Captain "He's telling the truth" the deputy replied. "Keep an eye on him" Takehiko said and paced out of the tent.

He returned a few minutes later. "Follow me" he commanded. Naruto complied and the Captain took Naruto out of the tent. While out in the open, Naruto noticed that there were several grey coloured tents in the forest clearing, similar to the one he was is. The whole forest seemed to be embedded in a thick mist, and the tents effectively camouflaged. Takehiko led Naruto to slightly larger tent, which was guarded by a pair of rebels. The Captain turned to Naruto "Our leader is waiting for you inside" Naruto nodded and entered the tent.

Inside the tent was standing a lady. Her most noticeable feature was her red hairs. Beside her were standing a few more people. Naruto recognised one of them as the shinobi who intercepted his team. From the kunoichi's body language and from the body language of those standing beside her, Naruto confirmed her to be the Rebel Leader.

All of them had the same expression of scepticism as that of Takehiko. "I believe you have something for us, Naruto Uzumaki" she said. Naruto nodded and gave a low bow "I assume you are the leader?" he asked for a final confirmation. The kunoichi nodded "My name is Mei Terumi and I am the Rebel Leader" she confirmed.

Naruto had talked to Haku about keeping the Throat Cleaver. Haku had almost immediately told Naruto to get rid of it, since it reminded it of bad memories, but Naruto sealed it in a storage scroll, figuring that it would be handy later. His intuition proved to be correct, since he got to return Kiri's legacy.

Without wasting any more time, Naruto took out a moderate sized storage scroll. He unrolled it on the floor and looked at Mei "I need to use my chakra" he said. Mei signalled to one of the female guards standing behind Naruto. The girl did a simple deactivating jutsu and touched the back of Naruto's neck, which dissolved the chakra suppressing seal.

Naruto pushed a small amount of chakra into the scroll. There was a small puff of smoke. The smoke cleared in a few moments, revealing the Throat Cleaver. Mei's eyes widened visibly. She picked up the blade as if it was an antique artefact, scanning it from the hilt to the tip. After being satisfied, she handed the blade to one of her subordinates.

"The blade is in fact genuine" clarified Mei, her voice quavering. Naruto could easily tell that she was trying hard to keep her composure. In fact, he was sure that if Naruto wasn't present in the room, she would've been screaming and jumping with joy. Nonetheless, she continued "Do you happen to be one of Copy-nin Kakashi's student?"

Having caught by surprise, Naruto nodded dumbly. "And is Haku, your teammate, the former apprentice of Zabuza Momochi?" it was more of a statement. Again, all Naruto could do was nod _'She knows her stuff…'_ was all he could think. Mei sighed. "I thank you profously for returning Kiri its legacy Naruto Uzumaki. We will never forget this action. If there's anything we can do for you or your team, feel free to ask" she concluded.

"Actually, there is." He paused for a moment "I…We all want to get strong. And we are all migrants; we don't have a place to stay…If you trust us enough, my team and I would like to learn the shinobi ways…from the rebels" the request caught Mei off guard, but she smiled a second later.

"In honour of my fallen comrade and in honour of the debt we own you; Naruto Uzumaki, this is the least we could do for you." She said. "From this moment onwards, Team Stampede is a part of the Rebels and the Rebel Commanders and I myself will overlook the training of Team Stampede personally." Mei declared. "The guard behind you will escort you to your comrades. Meet me here along with the whole team in an hour, understood?" she commanded more than asked.

Naruto smiled and gave a deep bow, struggling to keep his composure. He had passed his first test as a leader. He had successfully made the right choices and led his team safely. He had absolutely no doubt in his mind that his teammates will respect the decisions he took.

"Hai!" Naruto said confidently and walked out of the tent, leaving Mei smiling.

 **:::::**

Mei gained a few protests by some of the commanders regarding Team Stampede joining the rebellion. 'We own a great deal to them for returning the Throat Cleaver, but that doesn't mean we will let them join our rebellion. They are outsiders. Your carelessness may make us pay.' Were the points they put up, but Mei knew better.

She had seen the truth in Naruto's eyes herself. That kid was not even capable of turning his back to someone, let alone treason.

Mei Terumi was not an idiot. She knew the boy hadn't had a normal life, him being a missing-nin, but there was something apart from that. The Rebel Leader sighed. She would think about it later. If things go accordingly, this team could be a great asset for them. These kids were still partial blank. They still had a lot to learn. The more powerful she makes them, the more beneficial it will be for the rebels. She would think about the distant future later. Right now, she only thought about getting Kiri back.

 **:::::**

Team Stampede reported in the main tent at the desired time. Each one bowed, showing proper respect. Terumi glanced at every one of them. She got the list of their names, place of affiliation and field of specialty a few minutes ago. She motioned for them to gather around the collapsible table. She unrolled a large map of the Water Country.

"Look at the black crosses. They are our base camps. The base camps are moved every month. Every base camp has almost equal number of shinobi. There are at least two commanders at the base camp at a given time. The shinobi too change camps often. Also, the camps are assigned the names 'North', 'South', 'East', 'West' and 'Central'. These are position of the camps with respect to each other and not with respect to the earth. Any doubts up till now?" she asked her audience. The members of Team Stampede shook their heads in negative. Terumi internally sighed in relief. _'None of them are dumb. Good'_ she thought.

"The camps consist of about a thousand shinobi. The camps also have a stock house consisting of all the basic and some advanced ninja equipment. They all are free to take for any needing rebels. It also applies to you guys from now onwards. There is also a medic tent in each camp" she explained briefly, leaving no doubt at all.

"Now, take a look at the red dots. These are the outposts. They consist of a few shinobi on the lookout for any possible dangers. The outposts have a limited stock of basic weaponry and first-aid. The outposts change position every ten days. Clear?" they all nodded again, leaving Terumi pleased.

"That is all for the initial debriefing. I will introduce you to the commanders tomorrow. From now on, for the next six months, Team Stampede will be staying in whichever camp I stay. You are all dismissed for today. The guard will show you your tent. See you tomorrow at 7 am." They bowed and were about to leave when Mei said "also a word of advice; you guys wouldn't want to sleep too soundly at night. This isn't a peaceful village. There can be an invasion any second." After a short pause, she smiled and said, "Welcome to the Rebel Army"

 **AN:** I know it is shorter than an average chapter, but I barely managed to squeeze out some time. I know the update speed is very slow. I trust you guys to bear with it for a few more months. I will be constantly and rapidly updating the chapters of all three of my stories after May, '17.

Review and let me know how you liked the chapter. I updated my writing style a bit. A handful of good reviews help!

If I get enough motivation, I might be able to squeeze out another chapter before May, '17.

EDIT : 8th January, 2017 – Added some more content.

If you find any mistakes or plot-holes, feel free to correct me.

Smell ya later.


	7. Chapter 7 : Swept off the feet

**CHAPTER – 7**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Anime.

 **AN:** Thank you all those who showed their appreciation, it compels me to make it better and keep on writing. There were quite a few alerts in the last chapter and a few reviews. Thank you guys!

And let me tell you…those reviews made my day.

The OC that I use belongs to 'Scarease' (Yes, I'm talking about Emi). Thanks to him for the excellent OC.

"Talking"

' _Thinking'_

'Flashback'

It had been a few months since Naruto and team joined the Rebel Army. The decision turned out to be overly fruitful for them. The Rebel Commanders, and sometimes Mei herself, kept an eye on their training and gave extremely useful pointers from time to time, one of the useful perks of having a senior. Since they didn't have free time to watch over their training most of the time, and the fact that the team had Kakashi's scroll and several Kiri's scrolls to learn and train with. The schedule was in perfect sync.

The first thing that member of the team did, except Naruto, was increase chakra reserves. In about a month of pure taijutsu and chakra training, they all had a considerable amount of chakra reserve, capable of forming a couple or more shadow clones. Naruto meanwhile read the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing and Jiraiya's Book of Seals. Awkwardly enough, Naruto found himself attracted to seals. Since sealing required the knowledge of complex algorithmic patterns and matrices, Naruto had initially thought it wasn't his forte but after reading a thorough introduction of the subject, Naruto just wasn't able to detach himself from the book. He discovered the secret of the shadow clones from the Scroll of Sealing and shared it with his teammates.

Naruto and his comrades started using the shadow clones to their advantage. While they all made a couple clones, Naruto limited himself to only a dozen for reading and fuinjutsu; but during the workouts, his clones were endless.

Additionally, since they didn't have much information on the training scrolls for genjutsu and kenjutsu, Tayuya and Emi did regular training with some senior rebels who were expert in the particular field.

 **:::::**

It was high noon, a perfect time to cool down from the morning workout and read the Book of Seals, for Naruto at least. He was engrossed in the book when he was interrupted by a rebel.

"Mei-sama wishes to see Team Stampede, Naruto-san" he said. Naruto nodded and sealed the book in his storage scroll. He got up as the rebel left and glanced around the tent that Team Stampede had been allotted. Kisuke and Tayuya were chatting and Haku was laid down with his eyes closed. The blonde couldn't figure out if he was sleeping or not. Emi was most probably roaming around the camp.

"Guys, Terumi wants to see us" he said. The three of them nodded and got up to leave along with Naruto. It seems Haku wasn't sleeping.

 **:::::**

Emi was already present in the main tent when rest of the members of Team Stampede filled in. Mei was sitting on a chair with a couple of guards flanking her. She looked up from the scroll she was reading when they arrived.

"How is the training going on?" she asked casually. At getting positive responses, she continued "Well, I was thinking of giving you guys a mission. I think you all are ready. What do you think?" A grin found its way on the faces of each of them. Terumi smiled at the antics. She knew they were eager to test their skills after the prolonged training period.

"About damn time Terumi!" Naruto yelled.

"You can at least add 'san' Naruto…" she grimaced. The team gave a small chuckle at his caper.

"Never mind that" the blonde shrugged her off "What's our mission?" he asked anxiously. Mei became serious "It's a distraction mission. You are to distract the border patrol team of Kiri so that the main rebel team can sneak and rob one of the treasuries." She flashed a small map "This map contains the marked position of the outpost of the border patrol team. It takes a few hours to reach Kiri, so you will dispatch by evening, today. Make contact with the main team waiting at our outpost nearest to Kiri. That location is also marked on the map. The mission is to be executed at midnight. Any questions?"

"Any info on the border patrol team?" Haku asked "You will be given more info about it by the main team once you guys meet up with them. They shouldn't be much above your level" Mai clarified.

"Take this mission seriously. People's lives depend on it" She glared at them "Do not engage in a battle. Just distract and get the hell out. Understood?" It was more of a statement than a question. They all gave a quick, precise nod and dismissed.

 **:::::**

Naruto and other stocked themselves with a considerable amount of explosive tags and kunai, the cheapest and best way of distraction. After informing the gatekeeper, they departed from the camp at dusk. The team maintained a good formation along the way. They had already worked together in an endless amount of team training sessions, so that they could learn to work like a team smoothly.

The trip went smooth. They planned to reach the outpost an hour before midnight, so that they have ample time to prepare for the assault.

When the team arrived in the desired clearing, a man with his face covered up was already waiting for them. "Give me the seal" he said extending his hand. Kisuke handed him a small seal given to them by Terumi. He studied the seal for a few minutes before nodding. He motioned for them to follow him.

The man led them atop a tree and through a genjutsu. The outpost was actually a small tent hidden among the braches of a thick tree under a genjutsu. The man opened the flap and motioned for them to go inside.

Inside the outpost was sitting a team of three men and a woman. One of the men had a surprised expression "Mei-sama sent a team of brats? Is this a joke?!" The kunoichi, who seemed to be the leader, said calmly "Shut it Hayato." She turned towards Naruto "Team Stampede… You have grown quite popular among the rebels. I didn't know Mei-san sent you. I'm Yui" Naruto nodded at the kunoichi. To him, she seemed fairly young to lead a team, but it would dub him as a projectionist if he doubted her "Yui-san…I assure you, we are capable of handling the assign task" Naruto bowed. Following his lead, the rest of his teammates bowed as well.

"No need for such formalities Naruto-san. We both are here for the same cause, and from the same group. Mei-san must have confidence in your team's abilities if she sent you." She motioned for all of them to sit "Make yourselves comfortable, we have much to discuss" they nodded and seated in a semicircle pattern.

Yui opened a map. Naruto groaned inwardly, there had been too much maps lately.

"This is a detailed map of Kiri. Here's the treasury which we will raid" she said pointing to place near the border. "And here" she dragged her finger to the border of Kiri "is where you will distract. We have watched the roaming patterns of the patrol team for quite a few days. They generally tend to stick to this place" Yui circled a particular place on the border.

"The patrol team is always a four men cell, among which usually two are Chunin and two are Genin. I suppose you can take care of them if something goes wrong?" After a positive response from them, Yui continued "All you have to do is take this team a few kilometres away from the border and by the time they return back, we will be done. After the mission, we will regroup at this outpost. Gather your equipment, we are leaving." She said and got up along with her team.

 **:::::**

Naruto was crouching on a tree branch beside Kisuke. The attack was about to begin in a few minutes. Since it was their first mission as a team and as rebels, they were all nervous. It was their chance to prove that they can do the assigned tasks to the rebels, and to prove to themselves that they had grown as a team and as individuals.

Their plan to distract the enemy patrol nins was rather straightforward; Haku, Tayuya and Emi will bombard the boundary wall with exploding tags attached to kunai and let the enemy patrol team chase them a few kilometres to a certain clearing, where a bunch of Naruto's shadow clones were waiting in order to engage the patrol team while Haku, Tayuya and Emi left. Meanwhile, Naruto and Kisuke were to be ready just in case things get ugly.

A simple plan, but effective nonetheless.

In a few minutes, Naruto and Kisuke heard a few explosions. _'It started'_ Naruto thought. He glanced at Kisuke, who nodded in return.

"Naruto!" Naruto's radio transmitter chirped. He became alert, there was something wrong.

"I'm listening Emi" he replied. "The situation is fucked up!" she yelled. Naruto and Kisuke stiffened. "What's happening there?" Kisuke asked. They heard a few groans and curses. It didn't take them long to realize that their teammates were getting thrashed. "There are three of them, three Jonins." Tayuya explained while catching her breadth "There's no way we can survive. It's an ambush!" she said. Naruto and Kisuke had already darted towards their teammates before Tayuya had completed her explanation.

 **:::::**

Emi was struggling to even defend herself properly. Everything had gone perfectly until they were ambushed.

"Fuck" she muttered as she avoided another blow from the opponent's kunai. Smirking, her opponents charged at her again. She had a feeling that he was toying with her, but she suppressed it hastily. She had never faced a full-fledged Jonin before, and to think the man in front of her was a Jonin sent a chill down her spine. He was ridiculously powerful. Avoiding yet another swipe, Emi got into a comfortable stance with her sword in front of her in a vertical position.

"Wind Dancing Blade: Signum Cuts" she mumbled and the blade glowed in fluorescent blue. Emi began striking with extreme ferocity. At this point, she was desperate to land even a single cut on the Jonin's body. The opponent jumped back considerably to avoid getting cut. Using a single hand seal, he casted Hidden Mist Jutsu and vanished from sight. She heard a sharp sound and blood began to flow from her cheek. Cursing again, Emi gripped her katana tighter. The situation was bad.

 **:::::**

Tayuya was currently playing her most dangerous tune. Her Doki were attacking her opponent with full force. Using the element of surprise, she had used her 'Demon Revolution jutsu' and managed to drain some of the opponent's chakra. She had used her Genjutsu, 'Chains of Fantasia', but the Jonin had quickly dispelled it. Knowing her Genjutsu won't work, Tayuya was currently had her Doki use 'Demon Revolution Jutsu' to chase the opponent.

Tayuya grunted as she jumped off to another branch. Her opponent somehow always managed to get close to her to engage in a hand-to-hand combat, but she had somehow avoided him up till now. Suddenly the area became shrouded in a thick mist. Tayuya immediately used her Doki to surround herself, but it was too late. She felt a heavy blow on her stomach and she was launched off the branch she was standing in. Tayuya heard Emi talking to Naruto and the redhead instantly began to explain Naruto and Kisuke their situation. The situation was bad.

 **:::::**

Haku had warned the girls a few moments before the ambush had started. Ruining the element of surprise of the enemy had helped them greatly. Haku had trapped the Jonin in his Demonic Ice Mirrors and he was constantly attacking the enemy, but with no avail. The Jonin had proved that he had earned the rank by avoiding almost every senbon thrown at him. Haku had had a few of his projectiles embed the enemy Nin, but it was not hit on any critical spot. Haku noticed the mist, but it didn't bother him since he was already used to it.

Haku dived in for another attacked. He was about to use his kunai when the Jonin punched him in the gut. Haku coughed and stumbled a bit but managed to get back inside one of his mirror. The enemy had just defeated him in speed. He heard the girls talking to Naruto over the transmitter. Haku's face hardened. He will have to hold the opponent at bay till back up arrives. The situation was bad.

 **:::::**

Kisuke was running as fast as he can. He was already way ahead of Naruto. Now that he thought about it, they had no means of contacting the camp, so they were on their own. He doubted that even the five of them could take out three Jonins. Sending these thoughts at the back of his mind, he concentrated on rushing. Speed was his specialty after all.

After a few minutes of travel, he could see the chakra-laced mist. He slowed his speed down a little to observe. Kisuke heard the clashing sounds of metal and followed the sound.

 **:::::**

Emi's eyes were closed. Since she couldn't see in this mist anyway, she decided to close her eyes and concentrate on other senses. She could slightly hear when the Jonin was about to attack but her reflexes were slow in comparison. The Jonin gifted her with another cut on the biceps and she opened her eyes in frustration. She abruptly heard someone say "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough"

The mist abandoned the area around her and she saw Kisuke standing in front of her with his hands in a clapping position. The Jonin was standing a few metres beside her, and he looked pissed.

"About time you show up" she said, gaining confidence.

Kisuke winced a little at her condition. She had multiple over the body and a few bruises here and there.

"Now that I'm here, let's beat this bastard sick" he said. Emi smirked. She knew they stand very little chance against the man, but having someone by your side was always a confidence booster.

Kisuke with his two kunai and Emi with her katana charged at the Jonin. The combat was ferocious, with Emi and Kisuke's teamwork and the Jonin's skill with kunai. They managed to land a few kicks on him, but it didn't counted much. After blocking the latest strike from Emi, the man lashed out at her with a reverse hook kick, which sent her sprawling to the ground. Continuing the motion, he landed a solid right hook on Kisuke's jaw, tossing him head first.

They both got up and made eye contact. It was time for another strategy. This time, Emi rushed ahead and used 'Signum Cuts'. When the Jonin leapt away, Kisuke dashed near him and used 'Wind Style: Great Breakthrough" and launched the man while he was still mid-air, towards Emi. Emi gave the surprised a powerful horizontal swipe, but he blocked it with his kunai. She gritted her teeth and glanced at Kisuke. He was frustrated as well. Nothing seemed to work against him, but they had to do it somehow. Cursing, they both once again attacked the enemy Nin.

 **:::::**

When Naruto arrived at the scene, he saw Kisuke and Emi double-teamed against a Jonin. He glanced in the other direction to find Haku's Demonic Ice Mirrors and Tayuya struggling against a Jonin. Naruto made two scores of Shadow Clones and sent them to help Haku while he himself rushed towards Tayuya.

Tayuya was sprawled down on the ground when Naruto got to her. His face twisted with agony when he saw her badly bruised. He stretched his hand and she took it while sighing with relief. Tayuya got up and noticed his expression.

"Don't worry. We can take the fucker together" she said, giving him hope. Naruto gave her a confident nod.

Naruto created a huge number of shadow clones, which simultaneously attacked the Jonin while Tayuya guided her Doki, looking for an opening and exploiting it. The plan failed miserably when the Jonin started using Ninjutsu and sliced through the clones without batting an eye. Naruto clones used several Taijutsu combos and some Ninjutsu combos, but it was rendered useless against the opponent. Growling, Naruto formed a Rasengan and charged at the enemy himself after making a dozen Shadow Clones to guard Tayuya, much to her irritation.

Seeing the original coming, the Kiri Jonin hastily formed a Water Dragon and lashed out at Naruto, who barely dodged the dragon by substituting himself with a clone. Several of the clones made a Rasengan and growled, making it difficult for the man to spot the original one. The assault began and after several minutes of dodging and weaving through the crowd, the Jonin finally got hit by one of the Tayuya's Doki. The force threw him and he smashed a tree, narrowly saving his head from the collision. The man got up in rage and made several Water Clones. His clones charged at the mob while he himself made Twin Water Dragons.

The Water Clones easily cleared the field, leaving only a score of Naruto clones behind. Naruto and his clones had managed to dissipate most of the man's Water Clones, but a few still remained. The clones backed up to guard the Jonin. The Jonin smirked and began a series of hand-seals.

 **:::::**

Haku saw the batch of Naruto clones coming to help him and he eased up a bit. A dozen Shadow Clones entered the mirror dome, ready to pounce at the enemy while the others stood outside. The clones began trying to grab the Jonin so that he couldn't avoid Haku's senbons but the end result was pathetic, with the clones unable to land even a single hit on the enemy in the confined space. Haku growled, his expert hands being unable to land a clean senbons hit. After several minutes of struggle, Haku finally managed to hit the Jonin on his shoulder with the help of Naruto clones. It wasn't deadly, but it was painful.

The man grunted in pain and snapped. He snatched the senbons from his shoulder and threw it on the ground. He formed about a dozen hand-seals with unbelievable speed and yelled "Water Style: Scald!" A blast of boiling water hit the dome, instantly bursting the clones. The Jonin changed the hand-seal and reshaped the water in the form of a few drills. The drills smashed the Ice Mirrors. After a few moments, the mirrors cracked. Haku's eyes widened as he made an escape from the dome but the enemy had his path blocked. The Jonin landed a solid side-kick on his ribs, making the kekkei-genkai user cluck in pain as he fell to the ground. Haku was struggling to get to his feet when he heard the Jonin fighting Tayuya and Naruto yell "Water Style: Waterfall!"

As waves of water filled the area with unimaginable speed, Haku watched as the waves swallowed Tayuya and Naruto and all the clones vanished in a puff of smoke. With not enough time to escape, he glanced at Emi and Kisuke, who were shouting at him frantically to get away. Haku closed his eyes as he felt the waves sweep him off the land.

Horrified, Kisuke and Emi looked at each other. They tried to escape but the three Jonins had regrouped and blocked their path. The Jonins attacked in a Taijutsu combination, hitting them ruthlessly. They fell to the ground in a few moments and were completely helpless when the waves crashed upon them.

 **AN:** This chapter is a little short, but it felt right to end it there.

If you find any mistakes or plot-holes, feel free to correct me.

Smell ya later.


	8. Chapter 8 : Rage

**CHAPTER – 8**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Anime.

 **AN:** Thank you all those who showed their appreciation, it compels me to make it better and keep on writing.

The OC that I use belongs to 'Scarease' (Yes, I'm talking about Emi). Thanks to him for the excellent OC.

"Talking"

' _Thinking'_

'Flashback'

Naruto woke up dizzy. The world around him was spinning furiously. He grabbed his head and clutched his eyes. He could feel intense warmth in his left shoulder. Naruto deduced it was the Kyuubi's chakra healing his broken bone. He let out a grunt. The last thing he could remember was colliding with a tree.

"He's awake" Naruto heard a calm voice from his left side, a few meters away. He turned his head to find the three familiar Jonins staring at him. Naruto grabbed a kunai from his weapon's pouch in a hush and stood up. His stance was wobbly, but it was respectable after looking at his health. What he saw next sent chills down his spine.

One of the Jonins was standing next to an unconscious Kisuke, about to throw a kunai at his chest.

"That kid is pesty. Kill him while I finish the rest of them" the one holding the kunai ordered. One of the other two nodded and began to advance towards Naruto. The Jinchuuriki looked around frantically.

Haku was lying in a bloody mess alongside his broken mirrors. Tayuya and Emi were unconscious too and were bleeding badly.

Naruto was the only standing member of Team Stampede. The whole team except him were wiped out cleanly.

Naruto once again glanced at the Jonin who was about to kill Kisuke.

His blood boiled and his chakra exploded. Naruto recognized that it was Kyuubi trying to take over. Usually, Naruto fought with all his will to stop Kyuubi and not use his power. But right now, it was Naruto who called upon him. He needed the power. He will save the life of his comrades, even if it is at the cost of his own.

He was their leader after all.

The fox's chakra was unleashed in a fury, with all the killer intent aimed towards the shinobi who was about to kill Kisuke. The Jonin stared at Naruto in horror and paled. "Kill him!" he yelled. The two shinobi nodded and dashed towards Naruto.

Naruto felt his vision distort for a moment, indicating the conversion of his pupils. He let his growing canines puncture his lips. He needed the taste of blood right now. His nails extended and Naruto let out a deep, menacing growl. He got on all fours and charged at his opponents with a wicked aura.

Naruto took on the Jonins with pure Taijutsu. Naruto was a natural at brawling, but the Taijutsu affected by Kyuubi's chakra was a whole different deal. His longer and stronger nails allowed him to slash and stab with extreme ferocity. The chakra also enhanced his prowess, giving him inhuman speed and strength.

Apparently, the opponents were seasoned duos. With some effort, they managed to avoid all of Naruto's blows and managed to land a couple themselves.

After getting hit quite a few times, Naruto decided to kick it up a notch. Today, he won't hesitate for even a second to release the Kyuubi if it was for the safety of his teammates. He allowed more and more of the chakra to surface. Naruto screamed in pain as the evil chakra burned his skin. He felt his whisker marks getting sensitive and his voice getting deeper as he howled. He didn't need to look back to tell that a tale made of chakra had sprouted from the end of his spine.

With the new surge of power, Naruto diverted his attention to the Jonin who was about to kill Kisuke. With vision-defying speed, he rushed towards the lone Jonin. The unprepared didn't manage to get his guard up when Naruto landed a solid side-kick to his stomach. At the last moment, the enemy jumped back, managing to avoid the worst.

Dissatisfied, Naruto snarled and charged at him again. Before Naruto could reach him, the three Jonins regrouped and took him on together. Two of them used Water Whip jutsu to hold Naruto in place while the third one used Severing Waves jutsu to attack him. As soon as the water hit Kyuubi's bubbling chakra, it evaporated.

The battle continued on for a few more minutes, with Naruto's opponents' using the classy 'Hit and Run' tactic. It was true that their attacks had a negligible effect on Naruto, but it was also true that Naruto was unable to land even a single hit on them. Moreover, their continued Ninjutsu usage was weakening Naruto bit by bit.

On several occasions, they tried to harm, or rather kill, the fallen members of Team Stampede, but Naruto made sure that all of their attempts were rendered useless.

It would be a huge understatement to say that Naruto was worried about his comrades' lives. He occasionally gave each one of them a brief stare to check if they were alright. He was worried about Haku, Emi and Tayuya. They were losing a lot of blood. He needed to do something quick.

Naruto was fully aware that he was not in complete control of his body. It was only his will to fight and protect that he was conscious right now. He could feel Kyuubi's chakra receding over time. There had been very few situations in the life of Naruto Uzumaki where he had felt completely powerless and helpless.

This one was the worst situation till now.

After a few more minutes of struggle with the Jonins, Kyuubi's chakra finally left Naruto to his own demise. With absolutely no energy, he fell down in a heap. The skin all over his body was burning with fresh, first-degree burns. Naruto managed to stay awake and open his eyes. One of the masked Jonin walked towards his weak body. He looked significantly winded and was taking long, deep breaths.

"I don't know what kind of fucking demonic power was that, but the brat sure gave us a run for our money" he declared, gaining affirmative nods from his fellow shinobi.

"Time to die bra-" he wasn't able to complete his sentence because of the jump he had to make to avoid a volley of shuriken. Naruto was almost unconscious at this time, but he saw what was going on. The three Jonins were being attacked.

A large figured landed in front of Naruto. The man sprayed some water on his face, yanking him awake. Naruto looked at the man's face and a tear trickled down his own face. Naruto couldn't remember being happier or relieved at seeing someone before, especially not Commander Ao.

"Can you hear me, Naruto?" Ao asked.

Naruto gave a wobbly nod. Ao let out a sigh. "Good. Now listen to me carefully"

"Kiri already knew that we were coming to rob their treasury. It is still not known how the information leaked out. The guys you faced were some of the best Kiri has." Ao put a hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"Team Stampede did a splendid job. We have a medic nin with us. My men will take you guys to the nearest outpost for first-aid." Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but Ao cut him off "We will talk later Naruto. Right now, I have a job to do. I'm going to help Yui and her team." Ao gave him a confident nod and left. Another rebel came to his help and started to pick him up.

Naruto looked around in a comatose state to find each one of his teammate being helped by a rebel. He gave himself a small smile and closed his eyes, finally succumbing to unconsciousness.

 **:::::**

Naruto woke up in a comparatively healthy state. Deducing that he was in his own tent in the camp, he started to get up, but someone pushed him down. Naruto looked at the kunoichi next to him. It was a new face. She looked rather young.

' _Must be the medic'_ Naruto thought when he saw a bunch of herbs next to her.

"Mei-sama asked me to make sure that all of you get proper rest. Stay down." She clarified her action. Naruto glanced at his body. There were a few patches of bandages here and there on his shirtless body. Naruto really felt that he didn't need them. He looked around the large tent to see all of his teammates lying in their respective beds, covered in bandages.

"I think you should check them first. I heal really quick" he said to the medic. "I already did" she replied while mixing a few herbs with a mortar and pestle. "I was informed that you needed least medical assistance, so I treated them first." she said.

Naruto noticed the sunlight creeping in the tent. "How long was I out?" he asked "Three days" she replied without batting an eye. Naruto raised an eyebrow. It sure didn't felt like he was not connected to the world for three whole days.

"I have to meet Terumi" Naruto declared. The medic stopped her work and glared at him, obviously shocked at his way of addressing the Rebel Leader. After seeing his serious expression, she placed her mortar bowl on the floor and got up from her stool. "I will inform her. Do not attempt to sit up" she said and left the tent.

Naruto sat up. He always had problems with authority anyway.

He walked to his comrades. All of them were sleeping like a log. He smiled a bit. All of them were fine it seemed. He walked back to his bed and laid down. He decided not to face the wrath of the medic.

The kunoichi arrived back a few minutes later. "Mei-sama will call upon you when you are healthy," she said. "Well, I'm healthy now," he said as he jumped up from the bed and dashed out of the tent, leaving a protesting kunoichi behind. He ran to the main tent, returning several greetings on the way. All of them were genuinely worried of Team Stampede's well-being.

Naruto passed through the guards and flipped open the flap. Mei looked up from the scroll she was reading. "Naruto…come inside" she said as she closed the scroll. Naruto gave a nod and walked to her desk.

"Listen Naruto…" she said, rubbing the pinch of her nose "I don't know how it happened. The traitor was caught and executed…I'm really s-" "No need to apologize Terumi" Naruto cut her off.

"I know you care for them as much as I do. We all survived and the traitor is dead. That's all that matters" he said grinning. Terumi smiled at his nature. The boy really was one of a kind. "Anything else?" Naruto asked. "Well, your mission is pretty much the hot topic among the rebels. They are all literally awestruck at how a bunch of kids faced three of the best Jonins of Kiri and managed to survive" she said. Naruto grinned once again "We are that awesome!" he said. Terumi chuckled.

"Naruto," Mei said in a serious tone "Does your team know about…the burden you carry?"

"Yeah, they do." He said.

Mei nodded "And shouldn't you have told me about it?" she asked. Naruto dropped his head.

"I wanted to…but it's just…" he mumbled. Mei sighed "I expect better from you. We are all shinobi. Let me tell you that the rebels know about the fox, and each and every one of them accepts it. We know the difference between a prisoner and a jailer. We are not some stupid civilians Naruto" she said with warmth.

Naruto smiled once again. He was accepted yet again. He felt really good. "Thanks, Terumi" he said. Terumi smiled at him. "You're dismissed. You can go" Naruto nodded and walked out of the tent, with his happiness on cloud nine and with his body full of the will to get stronger.

 **:::::**

"He's finally up!" Emi yelled. "Don't shout. It hurts" Haku grunted while holding his head.

"You have been out for six days" she informed him. Haku was too nauseous to digest anything she said, so he just replied with a grunt.

After he regained his stability, Emi and Kisuke explained to him what exactly happened. He listened to and understood every bit of information, just as other members of Team Stampede.

Emi and Kisuke regained their consciousness a day after Naruto did and Tayuya took one more day after that.

 **:::::**

 **The team continued their training with more intensity than ever.**

 **Kisuke found out that Ninjato suited him best as a weapon and he began training with.**

 **Emi developed an interest in Two Sword Style and set up her training regime according to it.**

 **Tayuya expanded her Genjutsu arsenal and also began using a slightly larger, iron flute. She began using her flute as a club in close-combat.**

 **Haku improved his techniques with senbon and worked on improving his Kekkei Genkai.**

 **Naruto began working on The Hiraishin and continued his study with seals.**

 **All of them did extensive amount of missions for the next couple of years. The experience they gained from missions and the power they gained from training moulded each and every one of them into a unique, exceptional shinobi.**

 **Also, Naruto received his first message from Tsunade and Jiraiya via his summons. He kept in touch with them throughout the years.**

 **AN:** This is a little short, but it had to end there. The next chapter will be the time-skip (two years later)

It might feel that I rushed it, but this is how it is. In the next chapter, you guys will see their development through the years as a team, and as individuals.

Do your job as a reader and tell me what I did wrong/right, and what you guys liked/disliked. Honest opinions are always welcome.

If you find any mistakes or plot holes, feel free to correct me.

Smell ya later.


	9. Chapter 9 : Last Dash

**CHAPTER – 9**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Anime/Manga.

 **AN:** Thank you all those who showed their appreciation, it compels me to make it better and keep on writing.

This chapter continues after two-year time-skip. It's been a delayed update…no excuses.

The OC that I use belongs to 'Scarease' (Yes, I'm talking about Emi). Thanks to him for the excellent OC.

"Talking"

' _Thinking'_

'Flashback'

" _Far-off communication"_

The tree leaves parted as Kisuke walked stealthily, following his target with absolute concentration. The man being followed was a Kiri scout named Seiki. Apparently, he was carrying a bit too much sensitive information about the location of Rebel outposts. Along with him, there was another Kiri scout with the same information. Both were traveling individually to increase the chances of info-leak. Team Stampede's mission was to seize them; unhurt. Taking into account that both were considerable fighters, capturing them head-on without hurting them wasn't an easy task.

At missions like these, their experience came into play.

Kisuke didn't like tailing. Bushes and tree leaves irritated him, but he was the best in tailing in the whole team, so he had no choice. After a moment of preparation of pushing these thoughts out of his mind, Kisuke leaped on Seiki-but a just a little slower, so as to let him know.

Seiki glanced back when he heard the rustling of leaves. He saw a black-clad shinobi wearing a brown overcoat and black mask leaping at him with his ninjato unsheathed. Without a second glance, Seiki realized that he was being chased by a member of Team Stampede. Having been warned about their power, Seiki had no second thoughts as he ran in a straight line.

Kisuke smirked underneath his mask. Their simple plan was working like a charm.

Seiki kept running without looking back until the sound of the footsteps of his stalker vanished. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath. He tensed again when he heard the familiar rustling of leaves, but this time, it come from the tree in front of him. The sound multiplied and surrounded Seiki and a dozen shinobi made themselves visible. Seiki was surrounded. They jumped and landed on the ground, surrounding him carefully. Fearing for his life, he raised both of his hands as a gesture of giving up. After a second, he fell on the ground; unconscious.

All the rebels surrounding his senseless form except one, popped. The remaining rebel was surrounded by smoke as the Henge wore off.

"That was easy" he said.

"Your Shadow Clones make it look easy Naruto" Kisuke explained as he walked out of his hiding spot. "Whatever" Naruto replied "Your Genjutsu is considerably better" Kisuke nodded at the compliment "I'm surprised myself"

They tied the scout up. Kisuke carried him on his shoulders as he and Naruto raced across the forest. The technique they used to capture the scout was easy and quick. It was executed in three steps:

First, Kisuke chased down the target to their desired spot. Second, Naruto made a bunch of Shadow Clones and Henge'd them into various rebels, so as the target will think that he was actually surrounded by a battalion. Third, Kisuke used an effective Genjutsu to knock out Seiki while he was intimidated and careless.

Despite the mission success, the boys were slightly irritated. Mei's promise to rid Team Stampede of any mission for a week broke on the third day. The sheer amount of tasks they did was ridiculous. It wasn't only them, but all the rebels did the same amount of work. They were really determined to get Kiri back.

The rebellion was almost over. Bit by bit, they had ripped off the suppressors of their wealth, will and manpower. They always had to be on guard, since a major task of the rebels was to simply annoy them. Several times, the rebels just caused a few explosions outside the city so that they went on guard and ran to the site to find nothing. This was done often at night, to rid them of sleep.

Their leader, the Third Mizukage had vanished out of the blue. The generals were barely holding their ground. The rebels will get Kiri back in less than a few months.

It had been two years since Team Stampede joined the rebellion. After a year, their prowess and exploits had reached outside the Land of Water. They were on the Bingo Book. Many of the Ninja Nations saw them as a serious threat, especially since they changed their status to 'Mercenaries'. They did any job asked by their client in exchange for a respectable sum of money. The only condition was whether they liked the mission or not. They didn't do a job they didn't like, no matter what.

TTTTT

The whistling of air warned Haku of the arrival of some men. With a quick use of his sensory skills, he confirmed their identity.

"They're here" he declared as they arrived.

"You're getting a little slow" Tayuya remarked aloud as she noticed Kisuke land in front of her. "Not at all" he smirked and signaled her to look back. She did so, only to find the shackled and unconscious body of Seiki. "When did you even-" she was cut off by Kisuke's laughter.

"Where's Sanada?" Naruto asked. "Here" answered Emi as she held the unconscious body of the implied person on her shoulders. Naruto gave a nod of approval. "Let's go then" he announced. With the words of agreement from everyone else, they headed to the direction of Northern Camp.

TTTTT

"So it's over?" Tayuya asked in surprise.

"Almost" Terumi corrected.

"When you took down those two scouts, the Generals gave up. Apparently, those scouts were their last hope. As soon as they heard that the scouts got arrested, they sent a declaration of peace, submitting to all our demands" she explained.

Consequently, the whole Rebel Camp was in a state of shock. No one expected it to end this quick.

"In celebration, I'm giving you guys a week off; for real this time" she said smiling, earning a look of gratitude from all of them. "But a week later" Mei stopped mid-sentence to gather attention "I'll give you'll the most dangerous and important mission you ever had. Are you ready?" The Rebel Leader leaked some Killer Intent to add weight to her words. As she expected, all the members of Team Stampede affirmed in unison.

"And what will be this mission, Terumi?" Naruto asked. Mei let his manners slide this time, because she was waiting for this moment. She cleared her throat and straightened her posture.

"You all will invade Kiri and execute the Generals" Terumi smirked as the others gulped.

TTTTT

 **A Week Later:-**

"Is she really serious?"

"As it seems."

"I don't think it was a decision taken in good mental health."

"Her age is really starting to get to her."

"SHUT UP" Terumi roared. All the members of the team stood in attention "You are standing in my office right now so hold your tongue."

"Here's your complete briefing." She tossed a scroll to Naruto "Although they submitted to our demands, there is a strong possibility that it is a trap. You will sneak in there and find out all about their plan, if there is any. If you find ANY evidence that all this is a trap, assassinate ALL the Generals immediately." Mei explained.

"All in all, you guys have to breach Kiri tonight and assassinate the Generals" she simplified "Any doubts?"

Naruto spoke up "Well, since this is such an important mission and all…why don't you just send the Commanders instead of us? Surely they are more capable in every field." He put in words the question which had aroused in the heads of all his teammates.

Terumi smiled "They all voted for you guys to go."

The surprise hit them. This was the one and last mission for the rebels after which they will get their motherland back, for which they have been fighting for years. Certainly, this mission must hold strong emotional value for them, not to say that the success of this mission defines their future.

The Rebels' strong trust in them moved the Team.

"You will leave in an hour. Are you guys ready to do this?" Mei confirmed one last time.

Without any hint of hesitation, their heads moved in acquiescence.

TTTTT

The Team sped through the misty forest in a V-shaped formation, with Emi in the front, Tayuya and Haku in the back and Naruto and Kisuke in the middle.

"Remember, if you find even a tiny bit of evidence, I want the severed heads of all three Generals here on my desk. You all have one week. Clear?" Mei had said.

After a few hours of traveling, they had reached the outskirts of Kiri.

"No enemies nearby." Haku declared. "They dropped their guard too soon"

"Too bad for them" was all Kisuke said before he dashed to the stone boundary wall. Under a second, he climbed the wall and snuck into the village. A minute later, they all heard two light thumps on the wall; that was the signal. Soon, the remaining members of Team Stampede penetrated Kiri.

Although they'll have superior stamina, a few hours of continuous high-speed travel exhausted them considerably. They decided to Henge themselves as civilians and suppress their chakra. Due to the Civil War going on, most of the businesses were ruined. They were no active hotels or motels in the village. There was barely enough food, and people's quality of life had declined significantly since the last time they invaded Kiri.

"There's not a single sheltered place where we could sleep." Tayuya said. "There's still a few hours till the sun sets. Let's investigate till then" Naruto ordered "Tayuya; Emi; you guys look for a place to sleep. Rest of us will spy on our targets; the Generals. Each of us will spy on a general individually."

Naruto turned briefly looked at their attentive faces "I won't tell you to be safe…but…we will get this mission done" his voice contained a hint of concern. The other members sensed it "Of Course!" they replied. Their confidence reassured Naruto. He smiled. "I'm counting on you. Let's go" was heard from the blonde's mouth as they all dispersed.

XXXXX

 **-NARUTO-**

Naruto reached his target's house with ease. After inspecting the house from the outside, he noted a few things: First, the bungalow was huge. It was a triple-story with a large patch of ground, where various flowers and plants were planted. Compared to the rest of the village, it shined like a star. Obviously, he didn't have any problem finding him. The General Akihiro's family was very well off it seemed, as the name implied. Apparently, Akihiro made as much profit from the Civil War as he could, looting as much money as possible.

"That bastard" Naruto voice was filled with rage. Just as he was about to enter the General's territory, he saw a kunai closing in on him from above. Naruto suppressed his reflexes and acted as if he clumsily fell on his butt, avoiding the kunai by a hair.

"Ahhh" he gave a short scream. Naruto was perfect at this type of stuff.

"This is private property, and you know that very well. Do not push your luck, civilian" came an authoritative voice from the roof. Naruto only managed to see the silhouette of a well-built man, since the sun rays didn't allow him to speculate further.

"Oh…but I have a piece of information which might interest the General" he said.

"You think I would fall for that? Get lost. This is your last warning" said the man.

Naruto ignored his warning, producing a small scroll from the front pocket of his baggy, worn out overcoat. He opened the scroll and flashed it to the man to see. "The five red crosses marked in this map are the locations of current hideouts of the Rebels" he declared.

"Really?" the man said in a mocking tone. Though he sighed outwardly, he had a tiny bit of doubt regarding the bogus nature of the map. Deciding to clear his suspicion, the man decided to take an up-close look at the map himself.

In a smooth jump from the roof of the house, he landed right in front of disguised Naruto. "Show it to me" he commanded. Naruto did as asked, but as soon as the man lowered his guard to check the map, Naruto bore his knee in the man's gut with as much power as he could muster. The guard crumpled to the ground without a squeak.

Naruto sighed and threw away his rags "It's too hot" he mumbled as he pulled his shirt apart from his chest to let some air in. He grabbed the unconscious man by the collar and dragged to the roof. After some inspection, Naruto left the guard's body on the roof and carefully picked the lock on the front. In a few moments, Naruto had slipped in the house smoothly.

The house was only occupied by a young lady, who Naruto supposed to be the General's daughter. She was cooking happily, unaware of the breach. With waist-length black hair, angular features and well-maintained body, she looked beautiful in Naruto's opinion.

' _But alas, the mission comes first!'_ were Naruto's thought when he grabbed her neck with one hand to gain control and covered her mouth with the other hand, successfully covering her screams to tiny squeaks. Slowly, he dragged her upstairs to an empty room he had discovered earlier. He tied her arms, legs, shoulders and waist securely to a wooden chair using wire strings, but he did not remove his hand from her mouth. Naruto squatted down in front of her.

"Can I trust you not to scream when I remove my hand?" he asked. The girl nodded slowly. Naruto removed his hand, only to be met by a shrilling scream "HEL-" he grabbed her jaw with considerable power, shutting her immediately.

"You liar" he exclaimed with a mocking tone. He could see tears well up in her eyes. _'She isn't trained in any way then. Nice…'_ he mentally noted.

Naruto took out a kunai and kept it on her temple "You scream again and I will not hesitate to ram this kunai right in your skull. The last thing you will hear is the screech of metal against your bone. Do you understand?" he said slowly, all the while using a bit of Killer Intent.

The girl nodded desperately; her tears were beginning to drip now. "Good" Naruto said before removing his hand. The girl was quiet now. Naruto stepped back from her and observed her. The girl stared at him for a while. Suddenly, her eyes widened and her mouth opened agape. "You realize who I am, don't you?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer. The girl nodded "Naruto; leader of Team Stampede…what are you doing here?" she asked in desperation.

"I bet you already know the answer" he said in an obvious tone. The girl's tear sacks began to work again. "Please don't…don't do anything…to my dad…please" she said whimpering.

Naruto stared at her for a while and then galloped to the back of the wooden chair. To untrained eyes like hers, it seemed as if he teleported. "I'm sorry" he whispered, and a split second later, knocked her out with a sharp blow to the side of her neck. "You don't need to face the situation when you know…that he is being killed…and you are helpless" he whispered to himself.

Naruto made the hand-seal for Ram and suppressed his chakra, waiting for the General to arrive.

XXXXX

 **-HAKU-**

Haku was standing on the roof of his target's house, wiping sweat from his forehead "These rugs are too thick" he muttered to himself. He looked at the unconscious body of the guard while thinking of a plan. After a few seconds, he descended in front of the main door and picked the lock. It took him a few more minutes to sneak in the house. It seemed that no one was home yet.

Haku dashed to the find the required evidence and began to go through each and every document present in the house.

XXXXX

Naruto was patiently waiting for his target to arrive when his radio transmitter buzzed. He had eventually forgotten that he had one.

" _Leader…I found the evidence"_ came the attenuated voice.

"Haku, go on" Naruto replied.

" _This is all a trap…the Generals set up a trap to lure the Rebels…Mei-sama was right. What should we do next?"_ Haku informed him.

"Secure the evidence and kill your target. Bring me his head. Also, pass this on to Kisuke" he ordered.

" _Roger"_

Just as Naruto cut-off the transmission, he heard the front door unlock. He quickly created a Shadow Clone to look after the girl and as quietly as possible, he hid in a room on the ground floor. Naruto got ready as he heard the door close. A few moments later, he heard the General yell, "Do you think I'm that stupid? Come out now!"

Naruto sighed, he knew this would happen. He left his hiding spot and walked to the General. His walk was confident and his posture intimidating.

"Not bad." Naruto said.

"Naruto Uzumaki." the General muttered. "You are here to kill me, aren't you?" he asked.

"That is right." Naruto said. The General gave a low laugh "Did the Rebels underestimate my strength?"

"No General…you underestimated me. If you want your daughter to live…drop on your knees now" Naruto said in an authoritative tone.

The man's eyes widened as his mouth went agape "You wouldn't…When did you…"

"I'm not the protagonist of a fairy tale, General. I can, and I will kill your daughter in a second if the need arises. Choose wisely General…do you really want to fight?" Naruto said, crossing his hands.

The man stared at Naruto, the age finally showing in his battle-hardened body. He was helpless. As a father, it didn't take him more than a minute to impale his heart with his kunai. He knew that Naruto Uzumaki was a man of honor, and he wouldn't harm his daughter if he doesn't have to.

In a quick motion, Naruto detached the head from the body and sealed it in a sealing scroll. He left the dead body as it is and left the house.

"Emi, it's me. Did you guys find a place for the night?" Naruto said through the radio.

" _Yeah, we did"_ her voice chirped _"Get to the place where we separated. I will tell you the directions from there"_

"Okay"

XXXXX

 **Half an hour later:-**

"The war hit them hard, didn't it?" Emi said while tending to one of her Katanas.

"Yeah, too hard. I didn't think their forces would be so low that it would be so easy to sneak in and murder the Generals" Tayuya said.

The clustering of cups made them look towards to the doorway of the room. An old lady was carefully handling a tray with three cups of tea. Tayuya dashed and took the tray from the lady "Why are you doing this Granny? It's already more than enough that you gave us a place to say. You don't even have enough food to eat yourself and you're keen on feeding us?"

The old lady smiled "You don't realize it young girl, but to us, you Rebels are our saviors, our Gods. If it wasn't for the countless times you smuggled food and drinks for us locals, we would have been long dead. If you wouldn't have killed those heartless oppressors, we would have lost have loved ones. If it weren't for you, Kiri would have died" she said teary eyed.

"Whatever, don't disturb us anymore Granny. In return, we promise your freedom tonight" Emi said while sheathing her Katana. The old lady smiled and left in silence.

"You're too rude." Tayuya said.

"We're their Gods, we should act like it" she smirked. Tayuya sighed, Emi's attitude was little too badass.

"Calm down ladies." he said while sipping his tea.

"What the hell?! Why are you drinking the tea? They are starving out there!" Tayuya yelled.

"We are the Gods, after all." he said calmly.

"What is wrong with you guys?!" She screeched.

"You need not worry Tayuya-san. As we speak, food packages are being delivered to the Rebel Camp. The food will arrive here in a day, as soon as we take care of the Generals." He said.

"What?! Why don't I get info about this stuff?" Tayuya complained, to which both of them shrugged.

"How's your hand?" Tayuya asked "Fine. The bleeding stopped at least." Haku replied, studying his bandaged bicep.

"You should be more careful, you know."

"I was fighting a General. What do you expect? Besides, your First Aid skills are pretty good, so I don't need to hold back" Haku said. Tayuya turned around to hide her slight red face "Whatever" she whispered.

"Leader's back" Haku declared a moment before the door opened.

Naruto walked in and glanced at each of them "So, how did it go? Did you kill him?" he asked Haku. Haku narrowed his eyes a little "Yes. I killed him, Naruto" he confirmed after a little pause.

Naruto smiled "Goo-" The words stuck in his mouth when he felt cold steel on his neck. He could feel the breath of the person behind him on his neck "Move and I'll kill you" Emi said. Her killer intent sent shivers down Tayuya and Haku. "Who are you?" Tayuya asked.

"What are you talking about?! Don't you guys recognize me?!" he said desperately.

"Stop fucking around. Who-are-you?" Tayuya said.

Haku decided to explain after looking at his terrified and confused face.

"Two mistakes my friend." he said "First; Even though you saw my wound, you asked about the mission first. Real Naruto would ask how I was before anything else. Second; I referred to you as simply 'Naruto' without any suffix, and you showed no visual surprise. Now, who are you?"

"You won't away with this, Team Stampede!" the man yelled.

"Too bad, we already did" was the whisper he heard from Emi before she beheaded him. The Henge vanished and the person was revealed to be the third General's Water Clone.

 **AN:** I know this chapter is short. On the bright side, I just finished my High School and I'm getting a couple months off before college. Hopefully, I'll able to write at least three to four chapters at this time.

I seriously envy OPINIONS. If you feel that I'm begging for Reviews, you are wrong. I'm begging for OPINIONS. If you don't want to review, just PM me. I don't care how it's done, but I just want to know what people actually think/how can I improve? /etc.

Thank you.

If you find any mistakes or plot holes, feel free to correct me.

Smell ya later.


	10. Chapter 10 : Fame

**CHAPTER – 10**

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the Anime/Manga.

 **AN:** Hey guys, how are you all doing? Well this update was a little delayed since I was busy. Anyways, I passed High School and now I'm in college so that's good I guess. There's an English literary club here which I plan to join in a few months so you guys can count on my writing skills to improvise in a few chapters.

Thank you all those who showed their appreciation, it compels me to make it better and keep on writing.

The OC that I use belongs to 'Scarease' (Yes, I'm talking about Emi). Thanks to him for the excellent OC.

"Talking"

' _Thinking'_

'Flashback'

" _Far-off communication"_

They all were back to back before the water from the clone's body wet the ground.

"Any news on Kisuke?" Haku asked as he spun a kunai. "Not yet" Emi answered. "They are about twenty" he said "Go wild" Haku declared as he launched a kunai which pierced the wall and hit a person in the neck. The three of them rushed outside the house and the battle began.

Haku's senbons' wiped out half a dozen of them. His technique of throwing senbons had developed nicely. His senbons had eagle-accuracy and tremendous power.

Emi took on eight of them. Her skill with dual Katanas was noted by the whole of Kiri. It took little time deal with her opponents. She either pierced the heart or cut the neck of all her opponents.

The remaining enemies had their bones and skull smashed by Tayuya's iron flute/club.

The opponents were around Chunin level. Being a little threat, they were beaten easily without any exaggeration. 'Nice and quick' was Team Stampede's signature style.

XXXXX

"I'm sorry guys!" they heard a yell as the last of the opponent was going down.

Kisuke, along with Naruto landed in front of them moments later.

"I'm sorry. That bastard General managed to inform the others that we were here before I could kill him." He explained.

"I thought you were 'Fast'" Tayuya finished her sentence in a mocking tone.

"A man shouldn't always be 'Fast'…if you know what I mean…" he winked.

"Fuck you too" she mumbled.

"You guys alright?" Naruto asked. After a quick affirmation from all of them, Naruto gave his next commands; "Alright there's no time to lose. Haku and Kisuke, you guys go after the third General. Rest with me; we'll attend Kiri." It didn't even take them a moment to split up.

XXXXX

Naruto's group stood up on the roof of a house in the heart of the village. Naruto tied a bunch of exploding tags to a kunai and threw it in the air. With a quick hand-seal, the tags exploded in mid-air. The plan was to gather the people's attention, and it worked remarkably.

Soon enough, a huge crowd gathered in front of Naruto's group.

Most of the inhabitants recognized Team Stampede. Many were glad upon their arrival, many were astonished by their courage and many were a little upset at their foolishness, but all of them wanted to cheer for their saviors. They'll refrain themselves from doing so due to the fact that Kiri soldiers might be hiding in the crowd.

"People of Kiri" Naruto massaged his neck with a little chakra "I'm Naruto Uzumaki a.k.a Fukuro, Leader of Team Stampede. Today we are here to declare to you all that the war has officially ended. Now, you people are free." He gave them a moment to absorb the fact.

"The days of struggle are over. The three Generals are dead. Rebel forces will be arriving soon. Food and water supplies have already been deployed. You are all FREE!" he declared with raised hands.

He curiously scanned through the faces of the people. Suddenly the crowd cheered as their doubts vanished. They all had a mix of different emotions. They all cried and smiled. They all cheered for them, for Team Stampede, for the Rebels.

Naruto smiled as a teardrop rolled down his face. He never thought that he would emotionally connect so much with Kiri and its people.

From within the cries of joy and laughter, he heard a yell "That's not possible…how…? You…DON'T LIE YOU BASTARD. NO WAY THE GENERALS CAN DIE!" The man jumped from within the crowd straight towards Naruto. Naruto heard Emi's footsteps as she dashed in front of him. She firmly placed her right hand on her left Katana and glared at the oncoming enemy. They all heard a sharp sound of metal connecting with bone a few moments later. Emi sheathed her sword as she mumbled "Ittoryou: Iai" The man's lifeless corpse laid beside her.

The crowd cheered again.

XXXXX

 **A week later:-**

The food and water supplies had reached a few hours later after Naruto's declaration. A day later, the Rebel forces arrived. Mei Terumi was officially declared as the Fifth Mizukage. She had formed her council shortly after. Kiri was recovering at a rapid rate under the Rebels' care.

Team Stampede was granted a special status by her. They could enter and leave Kiri as they please without any questioning, much similar to a Sage. Furthermore, Kiri's shinobi of rank Jounin and below will obey any order given to them by Team Stampede, without any further consult with the Mizukage or the council.

XXXXX

Naruto saw Terumi sipping sake as he entered her office. "It's already that bad huh?" he asked with a grin. She shook her head "Don't ask. This job is hideous."

"Well good luck for that" he said.

"Where are you going?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Time for us to go Terumi. A close friend of mine might be in danger. We will leave right now, in the middle of the night."

She paused for a second, but then said "I understand. Anything I can do?"

"Nah. I don't want to make a scene so we'll leave without anyone else knowing besides you. I came in to let you know."

Terumi stood up "Listen Naruto…The debt we own you all can never be repaid, but know this; we always have your back, no matter what." Her voice was firm. Naruto smiled "That's nice to hear. See you soon" and the clone popped.

XXXXX

"Ok, I informed her. If Pervy sage's info is correct, we'll be facing the toughest enemy till date. Be ready for the worst. This might be as far as we go." He said with authority and hidden concern, though the other four already knew about his concern. They all nodded in confirmation.

Naruto was wearing his usual attire. A v neck-black-half sleeved t-shirt, a slim fit black pants tugged from the bottom in his black shinobi sandals. He had fingerless gloves and hidden knee guards. A blood red-long-leather overcoat draped over his shoulders completed the look.

Every member of Team Stampede had a unique dressing pattern, but they all wore an overcoat of their preferred colour. Naruto and Emi draped it over their shoulders, but the others wore it properly.

They sealed their bags in sealing scrolls and left the bungalow.

XXXXX

"So any message from that Sakura girl?" Tayuya asked as they dashed through the misty forest.

Naruto nodded "Yeah, Kakashi-sensei, Sakura and Kiba are leaving for Suna. The info is every bit true. It seems Gaara is the first one…the first target of, the Akatsuki" he clenched his teeth, "I'll save him, at all cost!" He heard Haku cough a little to get his attention "We…We'll save him, Leader" he said smiling. Naruto nodded with a grin after a short pause "Yeah"

"So what's the plan?" Kisuke asked.

"We'll take aboard a ship from the shore and sail to the bottom of Konoha, cross it ASAP and rest in any small village once we get across the Konoha-Suna border. Am I right, Haku-san?" Emi said.

He nodded "Precisely. That's it for now. We'll do further planning when we rest and review the situation. We would need to know the latest news to make further propositions."

"Oh and also" he said "we'll be as low profile as possible. Don't wanna spoil the fun Akatsuki" Haku smiled, rather hideously.

"Is it just me…or has Haku became a little…scary, nowadays?" Kisuke whispered to Tayuya.

"What else do you expect him to be? A cute little kid who loves Unicorns?" she said in a sarcastic voice. Kisuke suddenly turned a little red.

"We talked about this!" he said trying to whisper and yell at the same time "Not another fucking word about Unicorns!"

"Whatever" she mumbled.

"By the way…" he said to her after a few seconds "Do you really think I'm cute?" he smiled deviously.

"Fuck off!" she said red-faced as she pushed him away to another tree.

"Ok enough guys, we're at the port" Haku said.

 **Four Days later:-**

"No matter how resistant I think I'm, the heat always gets me" Emi said wiping her forehead.

"Same" the others mumbled.

"He's taking too long Naruto" Tayuya said.

"No I am not" Haku's voice surprised them a little. "YES YOU DID IDIOT!" Tayuya yelled at him.

"I hope you found a room…at least for your sake" Emi said staring at him. Haku took a step back "Why yes I did" his voice cracked a little.

"That's good news. I assume it's a prime travel season?" Naruto said. Haku nodded "Sure is. Come on let's go" They all picked up their bags and followed him.

Haku had found a room in a large hotel. The hotel was in the middle of the main market, which made it easier for the team to restock their supplies.

"Wow I'm actually impressed! How did you manage to find a room in such a place?" Naruto said. Haku gave him a grim smile "There's a 'slight' problem though…" he said.

XXXXX

As soon as Tayuya opened the door, her surprised expression alerted the team. Kisuke peeked over her shoulder. Narrowing his eyes, he said "How are five people supposed to even fit in this room?" "Well…they only had single-bedded rooms. This was all I was able to find." Haku tried to save himself.

"It's ok guys, we just need a place to sleep. It'll do." Naruto said.

"Yeah…we'll have to 'adjust' a little." Kisuke gave a perverted smile to the girls. He was down after a couple of kicks.

"Ok guys, get some sleep. We have to be at our best when we get there." Naruto said seriously. He began preparing his futon, with others choosing to do the same.

A firm stack of pillows separated the gentlemen and the ladies. Kisuke was kept at the far end, away from the ladies. The fatigue from their travel days got to them and each one slept like a log.

 **Next Days:-**

"Alright guys, I bought some dangos" Kisuke announced, entering the room. He was greeted by cheers. The sweet fragrance filled the entire room, not that it was particularly huge, but still. The dango platter was put in between, surrounded by them all.

"Zo anhyzwing-" Naruto swallowed the dango in his mouth "So anything suspicious yet?" he said, clearly this time. Kisuke shook his head in negative "Our disguise works like a charm every time Naruto. Don't worry, we aren't amateurs."

"And we aren't the best" Emi added.

"True" Haku said "News is out that we left Kiri. People might be searching for us already."

"We'll have to be more careful" Tayuya said as she picked up the last dango and put it in her mouth. She looked up to find four death glares directed towards her. Gulping the dango swiftly, she sighed. Seeing her reaction, they all started chuckling.

"Guys!" Haku said suddenly "Two shinobi on the front door!"

"Fuck!" Naruto whispered and took out a kunai. It took them a mere moment to go from 'chuckling happily with friends' to 'ready to fight any moment alongside comrades'. This was the life of a shinobi.

Naruto raised his hand, effectively halting his team from taking any action. "Not yet. Wait it out." He whispered.

A few seconds later, they hear knocking. "Who is it?" Naruto yelled.

"A client." Came a voice.

Without any second thought, they all assembled in a default formation. Naruto took a chair and sat near the window. He placed a chair in front of him, facing his direction. Haku and Emi stood behind him, on either side. Tayuya too was standing close to Naruto, while Kisuke went on to open the door.

Waiting on the door was a clique looking businessman in his forties. He gave the same vibe as Gatou. The man was wearing a luxurious black suit. Behind him were standing two men wearing formal suits as well. They appeared to be his bodyguard, and they definitely were shinobi.

"Team Stampede? I assume you recognize me." the man said strolling inside the room. His initial impression was of a pushy and pretentious person, the type hated by everyone.

"I'm afraid I don't recognize you." Naruto said.

"Ignorant aren't you? I'm not the same though. I know you well, Fukuro-san" he said in a superior tone. With raised eyebrows, Naruto offered him a seat.

"Dango?" the man said in disconcert as the sweet smell filled his nostrils. A sweat-drop rolled down the heads of every other person in the room.

"Uh…nevermind that. You said you know me well?" Naruto impulsively changed the topic.

"Ah yes" the man assumed his initial tone of speaking "I know about you Fukuro-san. I know you're from Konoha, right?" he had a confident smirk. Naruto narrowed his eyes. _'This info was never public! How the hell does he know that?!'_

"The facts that Team Stampede is one of the best group of mercenaries out there and that you are from Konoha made me approach you. I have someone I want to be killed, someone from Konoha Shinobi Forces." The man said.

Naruto sat back and crossed his arms "Explain." He said. The moment the man said that his target was a Konoha shinobi, Naruto had declined the mission. He was keeping his image of being interested so that he could save the person. Every Team Stampede member understood this.

"To start with, my name is Yamamoto Hideaki. I'm a well-known businessman from the Wind Country. I would like to expand my business to the Fire Country, but I'm being halted by one person. It seems that the Hokage's advisor, the Jounin Commander Shikaku Nara is strictly against it. He is influencing the Hokage to stop me from expanding my business at any cost. I want him dead." The man said. Naruto listened patiently until he understood the whole situation.

' _Of course…if he enters the Fire Country, he might try to influence us just as Gatou did to the Wave Country. If Shikaku-san opposes him that much, it must be important.'_ He thought.

"I refuse to do this task," Naruto said with a straight face. The man was aghast, "Fukuro-san, invading Konoha would be a child's play for you. I must convince you to reconsider your decision." A little desperation crept in the Yamamoto's voice.

"Any one of you interested in doing the mission?" Naruto asked. "No" "Nah" "Nope" were the replies from his teammates.

"You see Yamamoto-san? It will be for the best if you leave now." Naruto said in a concluding tone.

"Don't be so inconsiderate! Do you know how hard it was to track you down?!" Yamamoto was beginning to lose his temper. Naruto sighed "Get your boss out of here" he commanded the fellows behind Yamamoto. They flinched for a second but then decided that it would be for the best to avoid a fight.

"Come on boss, let's go" one of them whispered. The other one gently grabbed his shoulder and tugged him.

"Stop this nonsense! Is this what I hired you for?!" the man swung his arms around "Beat them up till they realize their mistake!" he pointed towards Naruto.

For obvious reasons, his bodyguards hesitated. "But…they are five…" " Let's go already" they mumbled in feeble voices. "Is this what I hired you for you faggots?!" the man whined "Ok let's do it your way. For every hit you land on Fukuro, I'll make the money I gave you double of the previous amount. How does that sound?" Yamamoto smirked. He knew how to handle people of this category.

Their eyes glittered with greed. After thinking for a second, one of them charged ahead aiming towards Naruto. With greed blinding him, he overlooked Kisuke who was standing right beside him. Kisuke simply extended his foot and tripped the Bodyguard. He snickered; watching a shinobi trip was hilarious. Before the man's face hit the ground, Kisuke kicked him on the stomach and made him stand upright again, displaying his meteoric reflexes.

' _What hurts the most is something you don't see coming. No matter how many times you hit them from the front, their body will be prepared. Hit them from where they least expect it, and they will be down in no time. Hand to hand combats are more of a psychological game than a physical one. Remember this rule of Taijutsu, always.'_

Being able to do nothing else in the congested space, Kisuke simply shoved off the grunting man towards Emi.

Using a simple Ogoshi (A judo throwing technique), Emi threw him straight towards the window behind. Being relatively fragile, the window broke letting the man fall out of the building with full momentum.

"Oh he won't die, it's only the third floor" Emi said answering Tayuya's glare.

XXXXX

The main market street was crowded with civilians carrying out certain errands, from buying groceries to pickpocketing. The sharp noise of breaking glass forced them all to steal a glance at the source. Huge amount of gasps and a few shrieks were heard as the crown panicked at the sight of a man being thrown out of a building. The man fell on his back. The crowd formed a huge circle around his unconscious form as they tried to get as far away as possible.

About half a minute later, they saw another man and a woman flying out from the hole together. In mid-air, the woman flipped as she grabbed the suited man from the neck and positioned right below her. At the very last moment, the woman jumped off using the man's body for leverage. The man crashed face first, while she landed gracefully just beside him.

Another man followed them soon in the same manner as the first one. The man was clearly thrown out by someone. Just as he was about to fall, the woman jumped and kicked him in the back, softening his fall substantially, even though he probably suffered considerable damage from the kick.

Once more a man flew out of the hole, though it was clearly voluntary this time. The man landed just beside the last guy who fell.

"This is the final warning" he growled.

"Isn't he?" "Yes! But how?!" "Shit!" the whole crowd began to whisper. They recognized him.

"That's Fukuro! TEAM STAMPEDE IS HERE!" a man shouted from amidst the crowd.

"If I find you trying to kill Shikaku Nara again, I'll kill you" Naruto used dangerous amount of Killer Instinct. He turned to Tayuya "We're leaving, right now" She nodded and jumped back into their room.

"No you're not" a female voice came, followed by a kunai flying towards Naruto. Naruto caught it without giving a second thought "Try it" he smirked.

"Very well" the voice came again. The lady jumped in air, separating herself from the crowd.

She mumbled the name of her jutsu, and as soon as the words fell on Naruto's ears, his eyes widened.

"Stop!" he shouted.

 **AN:** Enjoy the cliff-hanger.

I inserted a little humor in this chapter, which is very new for me. Do tell me if you enjoyed it or if it was a turn-off.

Naruto might have made an image as a 'serious fellow' over you, but be assured that Naruto is still the same as he used to be. If you add intellect and maturity to his character, this is how he becomes.

I seriously envy OPINIONS. If you feel that I'm begging for Reviews, don't get me wrong. I'm begging for OPINIONS. If you don't want to review, just PM me. I don't care how it's done, but I just want to know what people actually think/how can I improve? etc.

Thank you.

If you find any mistakes or plot holes, feel free to correct me.

Smell ya later.


End file.
